Revelations of Destiny
by Lord Kellendros
Summary: Kim can do anything, but there’s a reason for that. Powerful forces have been watching her since before she was born because of it. How will Kim’s life be affected when those forces begin entering it directly? And where does Shego fit into all of it? KiGo
1. The Growing Shadow

**Read. The damn. Foreword.**

Behold the awe-inspiring might of my all-powerful legal disclaimer! Tremble and know ye fear in its dark shadow! Or, y'know, skip over it to the story like 99.9 percent of everyone else reading these things does…

Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual events or to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Kim Possible and associated characters are the property of the Walt Disney Corporation and are used here for parody reasons without permission.

Distribution: this story is © by me, the author, Lord Kellendros, and may not be redistributed in any altered form, nor in part, but may be freely distributed in its whole, unaltered form so long as no profit is made from the parties doing so.

Credits: I give thanks to my ever-diligent proofreader Pesterfield and my specialized Beta Reader Creativetoo over at the KP Slash Haven.

Author's Notes:

- The first chapter of this story starts roughly a month before the events in "So the Drama." The subsequent "flashback" chapters where the timeline for this story "really" begins are several months after the events in Team Impossible, and about five months before the events in So the Drama.

- The original character Corscan Mataii is © by me, Lord Kellendros.

- I refuse to accept the pun of Wade having the last name "Lode" until it is used in an actual episode.

- The words "gay" and "straight" are not normally capitalized in proper grammar, but it looks funny to me if they're not when used in the context of sexual orientation, so, I capitalize them. Sue me. ;) :p

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Foreword: This thing is rated M for a reason. My writing is "darker" than that of the KP-verse. That means people swear where appropriate, the bad things that happen (and they _will_ happen, eventually) will be at times _very_ bad; dirty, gritty, unpleasant bad, and when they do, the violence will be violent, the blood will be bloody, and the gore will be gory. As well, there will be sexual situations and actual sex in this story, and once they start appearing, given my explicit, descriptive writing style, further chapters will be posted at AFFN.

And now I'll answer the question before it's even asked. That question being; "If you know there's going to be sex in this fic then why the hell are you posting it here?" The answer is simple; _because I can_. The first nine chapters are perfectly acceptable under FFN's ToS (and honestly, so are the next 5-8 chapters after that except for a handful of paragraphs scattered throughout them), and there's nothing in the ToS that says I have to _finish_ what I start, _here_. So, since FFN has the highest traffic of any site I could post this to, putting it here gets me the most exposure for it. Consider it a nine-chapter preview to decide if you want to read the full fic or not.

Lastly, this is _not_ a _KiGo_ story. It's a _story_ with KiGo in it, eventually.

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(Revised) Feedback and Publishing Policy: Now that I've posted all the pre-written chapters I had done, you'll all have to wait for me to write further chapters as I go, which will be much longer in coming out; two to three weeks each probably. But keep that feedback coming in, because even though it can't make me write _faster_, it _is_ the thing that'll make me keep writing on days where I'd rather be doing something else instead.

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**Revelations of Destiny**

By Lord Kellendros

Ron Stoppable leaned back against the row of lockers behind him, his lean—some would say puny—frame slouching as he looked up the hallway towards where Kim was at her locker and let out a deep sigh. Rufus poked his head out of Ron's pocket and looked around, spotting Kim as well. Quickly the agile little rodent clambered out of the baggy pocket and up Ron's clothes to perch on his shoulder, sympathetically patting Ron with one paw while chattering out a noise that sounded remarkably like "Ah-hawww."

Sighing once more, Ron brushed his unruly blonde hair back from his eyes with his right hand while softly saying; "I know little buddy, I know…"

"Another bad day?" a smooth female voice said beside him, and Ron, startled by the unseen approach, jerked back upright and turned his head towards the comment while babbling out; "Hunh? Wha'? No—" before breaking off once he saw that it was only Monique.

With a third sigh that was more a "huff", Ron leaned back again and quietly said, "Yeah… like you can't tell just by looking at her?"

"MmmmHmmm." Monique drawled out as she followed Ron's gaze back up the corridor to where Kim stood, raising one eyebrow and giving a slow, irritated shake of her head when she saw what her closest friend was wearing again.

Kim had on—or rather, Kim _barely_ had on—a tight, short, soft-purple leather skirt that was _just_ long enough to keep her from breaking the school's "no miniskirts" dress code, worn low enough to draw attention to the darker purple thong she had on underneath it, the straps riding high on her hips. Belted at an angle around her waist was a loose, silver-studded black belt, and her boots were slick white leather with heavy three-inch heels, encasing her shapely calves to just below the knee and done up with silver-buckled straps instead of laces.

At a glance, Kim's pastel-pink top looked like it was the same style she wore on missions, just a different color, but on closer inspection it was plain that the skin-tight cotton was practically a short-sleeved sports bra, with no real bra on underneath. Kim also wore fingerless sheer-lace gloves in the same color, with ruffled bunches at the wrists, and her ribbon necklace that was practically a collar.

To top it all off, Kim had on soft-purple eyeshadow, bubblegum-pink lipstick with a slightly darker liner, her nails were painted in purple and blue swirl-patterned glitter polish, and her hair was parted in the middle and gathered tight to either side in black leather cuffs before blossoming into a pair of straight, loose pigtails.

The first time Kim had come to school in the outfit Bonnie had coined the term "inner-city whore" to describe it while she was power-playing the at-the-time astonishing event with the school's inner circle of popularity in the girls' bathroom at lunch. And even though Monique had come out of her stall to confront the venomous snake that had taken Kim's position as head cheerleader last year, ripping Bonnie the proverbial "new one" for her trash-talking Kim behind her back, she had to admit that the arrogant, stuck-up shark of a socialite was pretty accurate with the description.

That hadn't been the first difference in Kim's appearance or attitude though, just the most obvious one up to that point. For the last three months Kim had been slowly changing, sometimes in obvious ways, sometimes in not so obvious ones.

For one, there was the clothes and hair. For the most part, Kim had always dressed _well_, but conservative, with loose hair and little to no makeup; sometimes to the point that you could even say she dressed _down_. But now, Kim had at least a dozen different styles she wore her hair in, depending on how she was dressed, and her wardrobe had shifted from conservative to… confrontational? That was the best word Monique could think of to describe it. All the outfits were stylish and sexy, some even provocative—with the extreme case being the one she had on now, which was certainly the worst of the lot—but they were also almost in-your-face with the fact that they stood out. Monique had mentally tagged a few of the more common looks with a label; biker, street punk, Matrix chic, Asian sultry, and of course, Bonnie's ICW, and all of them were over the "conservative" line even by a generous definition of the word.

The second change was physical, _literally_. Kim had always been lean and athletic, with a strong gymnast's body, but now it was easy—_very_ easy considering how much skin the outfit she was wearing exposed—to see that she was… well, _totally ripped_ was a little too much, but she definitely had a lot more hard curves to her now than soft ones, that was for sure. Her front and side abs stood out in sharp definition, and everywhere else you could see the shape of her muscle groups under her smooth tanned skin. Those muscles weren't that much bigger, but they were tight and compact, the curves giving her a fit, hardbody sensuality that was similar to a jungle cat given the way that she moved now; fluid and almost gliding, perfectly balanced and in control at all times.

The last change was a subtler one that somewhat fewer people noticed. Given the radical, almost _defiant_ alteration of her appearance, most people would likely think that Kim had slipped into some kind of James Dean "Rebel Without A Cause" self-destructive phase, but that was the really weird part; she hadn't… well, not exactly anyway. She still went all over the world at the drop of a hat whenever anyone called needing her help, and she was doing even _better_ in school than she had been previous to the changes, pulling down A+'s in nearly half her courses this semester. But socially, it was a whole other story now.

Oh, she still helped out with every committee and after-school activity she had been involved with before, and she still pushed the cheerleading squad as hard as she could without being their leader, but she totally didn't seem to care what anyone thought about her anymore. She ignored the increasing comments people made about her new looks, and unless it was to defend someone else like Ron or Monique, Kim totally blew off any social maneuverings or confrontations the rest of the in-crowd made—almost like getting involved was beneath her. It had cost her several rungs on the social ladder, with Bonnie ending up firmly entrenched as Queen Bee of the school now, but she just disregarded everything, like all of it wasn't a big deal to her anymore.

It was the darker aspects that only her real friends noticed that had Monique worried. Kim wasn't just more confident about herself and what other people thought about her, she was… edgier, Monique guessed. It wasn't obvious, and it didn't happen too often, but over the months Monique had noticed Kim being a little more aggressive, a little more confrontational than she had to be sometimes when dealing with people—a little… vicious? Even? A couple of times Monique would have even sworn Kim was on the verge of taking a swing at someone.

Her language had changed too. Before, Kim had practically had the sensibilities of an old Catholic nun when it came to conversation. Sure, she'd come up with snarky comments to put people like Bonnie in their places, but mostly it was implication or wordplay that she used, almost always maintaining at least the illusion of civility, if not the spirit of it. Now she could be as blunt as a hammer or as sharp as a razor when she was angry with someone, and she went straight for the "kill" openly and even rudely. She snapped at people that didn't deserve it when she was angry now too—though she always came and apologized with sincerity afterwards, seeming almost as hurt as the person she'd hurt herself—which had only happened once in a blue moon before.

The most shocking thing to Monique was that a handful of times she had heard Kim actually _swear_—and not just little swearing either, but a long string of profanity that Monique would have previously taken a very large bet that Kimberly Ann Possible was physically incapable of saying, even if her life depended on it. She still hadn't done it openly, but honestly Monique thought it was just a matter of time until she heard the words "Fuck the hell off Bonnie" coming out of Kim's mouth in front of a crowd.

Monique worriedly tisk-tisked a few times and said; "What's gotten _into_ that girl?" more to herself than Ron, but the blonde answered her question anyway.

"I don't know, but I'd bet dollars to Nacos it's got something to do with that job."

Monique MmmmHmmm'ed again—that was the other thing that was new: Kim's job. Well, to be accurate it was some kind of internship/mentoring program with some big corporation from what Kim had told her, but it did seem to take up a lot of her time now.

Every weekday at five o'clock, barring a mission or family emergency, Kim rode her brand-new, sleek gold racing bike to the Middleton airport, where she left by corporate jet to… well, Monique didn't know exactly _where_ it went, but it was the location of Corsair International's U.S. headquarters anyway. Once there, Kim spent the night and came back on an early morning flight, going straight to school.

Monique still couldn't believe that anyone's parents could be ok with that, but then again, apparently it was an unbelievable opportunity for Kim, and Kim's parents were kind of… odd, about things like that anyway. They hardly objected or even seemed worried while she was off for days saving the world after all. But still, it was weird.

As Monique was about to ask Ron to come with her to talk with Kim, she noticed another blonde head that rose above the crowd heading for the same spot. Monique imitated one of Ron's initial sighs as Brick Flagg came up to Kim's locker and started talking to her, looking down with a slightly arrogant smile as he swept his well-styled hair back from his face. "This won't end well," she muttered, and Ron answered; "No, no it will not…"

Kim seemed to ignore Brick while she put her bike jacket and helmet away and collected her books, but as she was getting ready to close the locker the cocky jock leaned in and put his hand on her shoulder, saying something else to her. With an irritated look she shrugged off his hand and slammed her locker shut, tersely replying as she did. Brick apparently didn't get the hint, because he said something else to her. This time Kim was anything but subtle in her response—and loud; Ron and Monique could hear her clearly from where they stood.

"I don't know why you think I'd want anything to do with _you_ Brick," Kim said, her face scrunching up in… not disgust, exactly; more like she'd just smelled something really rank—or stepped in it, as the case may be—before continuing coldly; "But let me make this _perfectly_ clear: I don't have time for your sniffing around me. I wouldn't go out with you if you were the last… _boy_, on earth and it was a cold day in Hades. Now _back off_, before I put you through a wall!"

"Yeah right!" Brick declared, stepping in front of Kim as she tried to walk past him to class. The big jock locked eyes with the much smaller girl and Kim stopped, matching him stare for stare as her free right hand slowly tightened into a fist.

"Damn!" Monique said next to Ron as the tense standoff continued.

The lean blonde stood up suddenly as he saw Kim's right foot slide back a little, widening her stance, and babbled out; "Here Monique can you hold Rufus for a sec'…" in one long word as he scooped the naked mole rat off his shoulder and thrust him into her arms before tensing himself, one step away from running down the hall to… what? Save Kim from Brick? Save Brick from Kim? Save Kim from herself? Honest to god, at that moment, Ron Stoppable had absolutely no idea… but he knew that he had to do _something_ to stop what was about to happen.

Just as Ron was about to move, three things happened almost simultaneously. Brick's eyes widened and his angry, challenging expression slipped away as he took a hesitant step back from Kim—maybe it was something he saw in her eyes, but suddenly Middleton High's star quarterback was more nervous than he had ever been facing down linebackers out on the field. The first period bell went off like a clamoring banshee, snapping up the attention of everyone in the crowd watching the standoff. And Ron tried his best to climb into the air with a flailing, startled jump while shouting "Gaaah!" as the nearby bell scared the living daylights out of him, thanks to his tightly wound nerves.

With the showdown broken by the bell, the crowd broke up as the other students began heading to class, and Brick quickly regained his composure, brushing Kim off with a dismissive; "Whatever Possible" before moving past her towards his own first period class. Kim ignored him entirely, moving off to her first class with a long, determined stride that still had a hint of sway to it, since anyone wearing those boots had to sway a little no matter their stride—or risk tripping and falling on their face anyway.

As Brick headed up the corridor in the direction of Ron and Monique, his wingmen from the football team joined him on the way to class, all of them talking as the halls thinned out. Passing Kim's friends, none of them noticed the two of them as they stood there, but Monique and Ron sure noticed them—or rather, noticed what they were saying as they overheard the comments from the pack of jocks while they passed by.

"Yeah man, why would you ever wanna touch that skeeze? Who _knows_ where she's been lately?" "Bonnie might be high maintenance, but at least you don't have to worry 'bout her messin' around behind your back…" "Cunt's just a little cock-tease anyway Brick, get over it…" "Yeah man; like, I'd tap that ass if I could, but like, seriously, the chick has _issues_ man!" Brick's teammates were saying.

"Yeah, yeah… what the hell was I thinking?" Brick responded on his way through the door. "Probably would'a caught something from the bitch anyway…"

Monique glared at the back of the jocks' letterman jackets as they went into class, trying to burn holes through them by sheer intensity alone, while Rufus growled in her arms. After the last one went in and closed the door behind him, Monique blinked as she looked around and realized that she and Ron were the only ones left out in the halls.

Turning back to Ron, Monique stopped cold, a little shocked by what she saw. The whip-thin teen was standing rigid, every muscle in his body tensed. The muscles of Ron's tightly clenched jaw were flexing so hard Monique wouldn't have been surprised if she heard his teeth shatter, his face was brightly flushed, his fists were balled so tightly the whites of his knuckles showed, and his normally warm, friendly brown eyes were sharp with… it wasn't just anger Monique saw, but real _fury_ there. Rufus whimpered "oh-oh" in her arms as he too saw the state his owner was in.

"Ahhh, Ron?" Monique said, carefully trying to get the boy's attention. A moment later she stepped back with a gasp, almost dropping her books and Rufus as she was even more shocked and startled by Ron whirling and slamming his fist into the locker next to him. But this wasn't a typical Ron move ending with him shouting and waving his hand around in pain; the layered sheet metal of the door crumpled under his blow with a loud metallic _crack_, folding and warping the entire door with at least a good three inches of dent.

Ron leaned towards the locker on his outthrust arm and bowed his head, his breathing hard but focused, coming in, and out, in, and out, while Monique heard him muttering, "The way of Monkey Gung Fu is not vengeance. The way of Monkey Gung Fu is not vengeance. The way of Monkey Gung Fu is not vengeance." over and over again like a mantra.

"Get a grip Stoppable!" Monique said sharply, before adding softly; "are you ok?" not entirely sure how to deal with this.

With a last deep breath, Ron dropped his arm and raised his head, standing up straight again. "No, no I am not all right Monique," Ron answered with a sad, calm serenity that seemed surreal.

Ron turned back towards his friend, and Monique saw that his eyes were no longer sharp, but filled with a deep, loving concern as he continued; "Right now, my hand hurts like heck, my head feels almost as bad, and something is slowly trying to twist the inside of my chest into a knot. My best friend in the whole world seems fine half the time and the other half, it's like she's a completely different person. And she won't talk to me about it at all. Oh, we still hang out when she has free time between school and getting to the job, and on weekends, or even on missions, but whenever I try and bring up anything about what's going on with her, she cuts me off. A few times I thought that she was finally going to say something, but at the last minute she always turns away. I don't like Kim turning away from me Monique," Ron concluded sadly, "and I really, _really_ don't like not knowing what's going on with her or how to help."

"C'mon Ron, it's not that bad, is it?" Monique said hopefully. "I mean, yeah, sure, Kim seems to be dealing with something, going through some changes, but almost everyone in high school gets these kinds of phases eventually. Kim's… Kim's just being Kim and taking it to the max, y'know?"

"No Monique," Ron answered, "it's bad. Real bad. Just three days ago we were at practice and Bonnie was riding her harder than usual, both about the squad and, y'know, other stuff, and I'm pretty sure that if I hadn't been there to run interference and calm Kim down she would've hurt Bonnie."

"Well, that girl needs hurtin' sometimes," Monique answered, muttering "_bitch_" under her breath.

"No Monique, I mean Kim was _really_ going to hurt her. She had this look in her eyes that I've only seen a handful of times on missions, a look she only got when things were really terrible, and the bad guys were close to doing some real damage to someone. And that's not all…"

"There's more?" Monique asked incredulously, still hardly believing what Ron had just told her.

"You remember that mission we went on three weeks ago, to stop Lord Monkey Fist from getting his hairy paws on the Mystic Eye of Trinity in the Peruvian jungle?" Ron asked.

"You mean the one you cracked your elbow and bruised your ribs on, falling down those hundred feet of stone temple steps?" Monique answered.

"Yeah, yeah, that was the one; thanks for the reminder," Ron said with a touch of self-depreciation—the real reason for which wasn't his embarrassment over what had happened, but rather to distract Monique in case she noticed anything funny from him while she recounted the event that had never happened. Ron didn't like having to lie to Monique, but there was no way he was going to tell her how he had _really_ gotten hurt unless he had to. As of yet, he didn't think the situation with Kim was bad enough to do so.

_But I don't have to like it_, he thought to himself. Aloud, Ron continued; "So anyway, we did our standard 'get Wade to track the bad guy by satellite, GPS our way through heavy jungle, and confront the villain in the temple just before he gets the idol—"

"I thought it was a talisman?" Monique interrupted.

"Idol, talisman, headpiece, ring, _whatever_! The details don't matter Monique—try to focus here!" Ron shot back, a little ticked-off that the girl was splitting hairs when he was trying to tell her something important. "Now can I continue? Thanks. As I was _saying_, we did the whole 'confront the bad guy' thing like we usually do. Kim talked me out of my monkey issues, and we went in after Monkey Fist before he could get to the _talisman_."

"So it was your usual fight the bad guy deal. So?" Monique said as Ron paused.

"So, it was _not_ our usual 'fight the bad guy' deal. You didn't see it Monique; over half of Monkey Fist's monkey ninjas had to be taken to the veterinary hospital with serious injuries, and Monkey Fist… well, once she finally went after him, Kim almost took him apart like he wasn't even fighting back. He'll be in traction for months. But the worst part was…" Ron's voice got soft, "the worst part was that near the end, when he went down, I wasn't sure Kim was going to stop there."

"You don't mean…?" Ron just looked at Monique as she questioned him, and slowly nodded, like it was being dragged out of him. "No. _No_! I won't believe that Kim would _ever_ do anything like that, _could_ ever do anything like that, no matter what the reason! She wouldn't even come close!" Monique said with hot intensity.

"You weren't there, I was! I _saw_ her; saw the look in her eyes Monique! She had to stop herself from going… any further, I'm sure of it!"

Reluctantly Monique nodded her acceptance of Ron's story, convinced more by the hurt, lost look in his eyes than anything else.

"So what do we do?"

"I don't know Monique. I've tried everything I can think of and none of it worked. I'm out of ideas…"

"Well, maybe it's because you're using a _man_ to do a _woman's_ job," Monique joked, trying to raise Ron's spirits with the subtle compliment. "You just leave it to me. I'll have a little girl-to-girl talk with our little Kimmie and find out _exactly_ what's going on with the girl, ok? I really have been meaning to corner her and seriously ask about some of the stuff she's been doing anyway, this just gives me another reason to do it instead of putting it off more."

"Oh thank you thank you thank you!" Ron gushed as he hugged Monique tightly, greatly relived to have both another ally to confide in about what was happening with Kim and more importantly, some hope once again.

"That's enough of that Stoppable, get off me; personal space, remember?"

"Sorry, sorry," Ron apologized, letting go. Rufus, who had been caught in the middle of the two friends, gasped for air and shot Ron an irritated look.

"Hey little buddy, sorry 'bout that too," Ron said as he took Rufus from Monique and set him back on his shoulder. Smiling now, Ron seemed much more like his old self, since the weight of the world had been lifted off his shoulders—at least a little anyway.

"I'll tell you one thing for sure," Ron said, "this has _got_ to have something to do with that stupid job of hers. Pretty much all of this weirdness started around when we went to meet what's-her-name at their corporate headquarters."

"Hmmm… you don't think…" Monique trailed off as she pondered out loud, looking thoughtful.

"_What what what_?" Ron shouted, grabbing Monique by the shoulders, desperate to hear whatever it was that the A student had figured out.

"PS Ron, _PS_!" Monique growled out in irritation. Once Ron let go, _again_, she continued. "I was just wondering. You guys have gotten into a lot of weird— _stuff_, saving the world and all. You don't supposed those corporate guys did anything to her, do you?"

Ron sighed and seemed to deflate, his excitement disappearing. "No, no, we already thought of that."

"We?"

"Well, yeah, me and Wade were talking, and came up with that idea. But Wade ran every test he could on Kim without bringing her to a lab, and everything he found was normal."

"MmmmHmmm," Monique intoned with one eyebrow raised, seeing that Ron was hiding something.

"Well ahhhh…" Ron stalled, embarrassed, before finally cracking under the girl's stare. "We didn't exactly _tell_ Kim we were testing her. Y'see Wade borrowed this remote micro scanner thingy from a lab he was doing some programming work for, and for the rest of the tests he used the Kimmunicator to get the tissue samples—Kim never even noticed… really!"

"Not nice Ron, not nice at all invading someone's privacy like that…" Ron looked contrite as Monique berated him. "Given the circumstances though, I guess I understand. But I don't think Kim would, even if she weren't… like she is now. So you'd better keep that on the down-low, ok? It's nice to be able to rule it out, but it's also going to make things more difficult, since that means it's definitely something up with her instead of—"

Monique was cut off as a deep, nasal voice shouted out "Stoppable!" before continuing on loudly, "Monique! Might I enquire as to _why_ you're out here in the halls instead of being in class like you're supposed to be?"

Both teens jerked around to see the grim features of Mr. Barkin looming over them, waiting for their answer.

"Ahhh, oh, well, ummm… look at the time," Ron babbled. "You're right Mr. Barkin, I should be in class now, shouldn't I? Heh heh… I'll get right on it."

"Didn't you hear the bell Mr. Stoppable?"

"Ahhh, no, no I did not Mr. Barkin. Earwax buildup. My mom's taking me to her ear nose and throat guy this afternoon."

"Nice try Mr. Stoppable, but you've got detention this afternoon. Now get to class before I make that detention for tomorrow as well!"

"Ok Mr. Barkin," Ron said as he backed away and then ran for class.

"And no running in the halls!" Mr. Barkin shouted after him before turning to Monique and asking; "and what's your excuse Monique?"

"No excuse sir; I was trying to get Ron to hurry up and get to class myself. We've got a project together and I'm having some trouble getting him motivated."

"I _see_. Well Monique, I'll let you off with a warning this time, but I suggest that in the future you not be late for class, no matter what reason, understood?"

"Yes Mr. Barkin."

"And don't you worry about Mr. Stoppable's motivation Monique; I'll be sure to have a little chat with him about responsibility this afternoon in detention."

"Ok. Thank you Mr. Barkin."

"Now get to class Monique."

"Yes Mr. Barkin."

The stern, heavyset teacher watched as Monique walked to her class before he continued up the hall, his narrowed eyes scanning like a hawk's for any more tardy students he could come down on.

* * *

Later that day Monique headed into the cafeteria and quickly scanned the room. Spotting Kim and Ron sitting alone at a corner table, she quickly got in line to get her lunch and join them. Moving up the line she grabbed food at random, almost totally distracted by the current situation.

Everything Ron had told her coupled with his meltdown had combined in her head with all her _own_ previous worries over what was going on with Kim to blow her concentration straight to hell all morning. She wasn't wound up as tightly as Ron had been, but she thought she might be if she couldn't manage to get some "alone time" with Kim this weekend. It had to be over the weekend, because there was _no way_ they were going to be able to work this out in the short time Kim had free on weeknights now.

Paying for her lunch, Monique moved across the floor towards the table, taking a deep, calming breath and trying to keep her expression upbeat and happy—normal in other words. As she approached, she saw that Kim had her head stuck in her books, doing prep work for the homework she had gotten in her morning classes. That was pretty much Kim's usual lunchtime procedure now whenever she wasn't doing something for extracurricular activities. Monique had to admit that this was at least one change that she approved of; Kim was really giving her a run for her money as one of the best students in school now.

As she arrived, Monique caught Ron's eye and he smiled back, waving, and said; "Hey Mo, pull up a chair."

Her attention pulled away from her work by the comment, Kim looked up and finally noticed Monique standing next to the table. Smiling, she said "Hi Monique, gonna sit with us today?"

"If you can find room, yeah," Monique teased, looking at the spread of open textbooks and binders fanned out around Kim's lunch tray and taking up half the table space.

"Just trying to keep you on your toes Monique. We can't all pull down perfect scores without working like dogs the way you can after all." Kim joked back.

Monique sat down in a clear spot and the three friends spent the next several minutes making small talk while eating. After a while, Monique casually said; "Hey Kim, my parents are taking my brother and his friends camping this weekend. I don't suppose you'd wanna come over Saturday morning after they've left and keep me company until my aunt arrives at suppertime, would you?"

"That'd be great Monique, but I promised Ron we'd go to the new Solar Warriors movie and then hang out at the arcade this Saturday, sorry."

"Ahhh, actually KP, no can do on the Saturday fun-fest," Ron said with a depressed look. "Mr. Barkin gave me detention again this morning, and the parental units told me that if I didn't manage to keep out of trouble for the rest of the week I'd have to help dad out with the spring cleaning this weekend." Ron sighed mournfully while Rufus patted his hand.

"Awww… well, that's too bad, but you know you really should try and stay out of trouble harder Ron," Kim answered. Turning back to Monique she continued; "I guess I'm free then. When do you want me to come over?"

"I figure my parents will be gone by nine or so, ten at the latest, so how 'bout we say ten?"

"Ok, I'll be there at ten then."

Monique let out the proverbial breath she had been holding in her head and glanced at Ron, who gave a slight nod back at her. Now all she had to do was hope that nothing came up that needed Kim Possible to deal with it in the next two days and she would have her shot to find out what was going on and how to help Kim if that was what she needed.

As lunch went on, Monique realized that it wasn't going to be easy for her to wait out those two days; her worries had come back almost immediately, and it was all she could do to keep up her normal front instead of just coming out and talking to Kim right now. Two days, just two more days…


	2. Confrontation

Monique grunted with the effort of lifting the overloaded clothesbasket up on top of the dryer so she could start dumping the contents into the adjacent washer. 

"Damnit Derek, could you _be_ any more of a jackass?" Monique growled angrily as she tried to endure the stink radiating from the huge fermented pile of weeks-old dirty clothing and sweat saturated, mud encrusted sports uniforms and gym clothes. It was obvious her brother had been letting the pile build up on purpose just so he could dump the responsibility of washing the clothes on her this weekend while mom and dad took him camping with his friends—he must have skipped at least two wash days for sure, maybe even three to get it this big.

"Oh _jeez_," Monique said with fresh aggravation as she pulled out a clump of soccer uniforms that were stuck together in one big mass. After smashing the clothing clot against the top of the washer a few times, Monique began to pry it apart while muttering; "Ewww! Ewww! Ewww!" in disgust.

Oh yes, Monique was definitely not a happy camper this morning, unlike her brother. First she had been woken up at the crack of dawn by the noise her father and brother made loading up the minivan and hunting down every last-minute addition they thought of that needed to be found and added to the supplies, and despite trying to sleep through it she had little success, unlike her mom. Then she found out at breakfast that her aunt really _was_ going to be coming over after supper to check up on her, as if she were still a little kid or something. Just after breakfast she was informed that her mom expected her to deal with all the normal chores over the weekend, and she had spent the next two hours scrambling like a madwoman to clean and vacuum every room in the house before Kim arrived, since she'd have no time for it tomorrow with the huge load of homework she had to do. The final nail in the coffin had been going into Derek's room and discovering the gigantic heap of dirty clothes he had left on the floor of his closet for her, complete with a "cherry on top" in the form of a note that said "good luck sis" with a text-message raspberry drawn under it.

Monique sighed as she cracked the last pair of shirts apart and crushed them down into the clothes already in the washer. At least there was one silver lining to the cloud this day was turning out to be; when she called Ron after her parents left he had been home—dead tired from staying up all night playing Resident Evil: Outbreak with Felix, but home. That meant that unless something had come up in the last couple of hours Kim should still be coming over this morning.

_Speak of the devil_… Monique thought as she heard someone come into the house upstairs and call out what she thought was her name. It _sounded_ like Kim from down here, but then why hadn't she heard her motorcycle when she arrived? Maybe she'd parked it in the street…

"I'm down here Kim, just gimmi a sec' and I'll be right up. Trust me, you do _not_ want to come down here right now girlfriend…" Monique bellowed up to Kim before growling as she pushed one last pair of stinky shorts into the nearly overloaded washer.

Looking over at the clothesbasket, Monique sighed as she realized it would take at least two more loads to finish off its disgusting contents. Turning the washer on, she added an extra large measure of detergent to the mix and, for just a second, was sorely tempted to "accidentally" drop a couple of cups of bleach in as well. After a moment she closed the lid instead—despite how much Derek deserved it, she knew that the satisfaction wouldn't be worth the price she'd have to pay over the act, one way or another. But oh how she wanted to do it so very much…

"Monique?" Kim's voice came from the top of the stairs, barely made out over the sound of the washer.

"Just a minute Kim, be right up…" Monique shouted as she quickly washed her hands in the adjacent sink, her nose crinkling over the need to do so at all from just loading clothes into the washer.

" 'K," Kim answered.

Fleeing the basement and its odious contents, Monique bounded up the steps two at a time, bouncing out into the kitchen and looking around when she didn't find Kim waiting for her like she expected. Hearing something from out front, Monique headed into the living room and finally found her friend standing with her back to her, looking out the bay window.

_Hmmm_… _"Biker" today I see_… Monique thought as she saw that Kim had her hair done up in cornrows that continued into dozens of slender braids at the back, each capped by a shell bead, and was wearing loose, well-worn jeans and a tight, midriff-baring boi-beater T-shirt, accessorized with a leather belt and chained wallet, exposed-cap steel-toed boots and a pair of three-inch studded leather wristbands, all of them black with the metal polished to a mirror-bright shine.

As Kim turned around at the sound of her entrance, Monique realized why there had been a little voice in her head saying that something was wrong with the picture in front of her.

"Damn girlfriend, you look like crap!" The words were out of her mouth before she could help it, but it was true; Kim did look like crap. Her hair was as disheveled as the style allowed and her clothes were dirty—some spots looked like bloodstains—ripped here and there, and appeared to have been slept in. Mottled greenish-yellow bruise patterns ran over her shoulders and down her outer arms, her fingers and knuckles were scratched and cut up as well as being bruised, her eyes were slightly bloodshot, and her face appeared tired and had a slightly… haunted? look to it.

"Gee thanks," Kim said dryly, one eyebrow raised.

"Sorry, but, y'know, it's true. Wha'did'ya skip work last night and go on a bender or something?" Monique joked—at least, she thought she was joking…

"Hunh? No, just some trouble that came up I had to deal with. Look Monique, I tried to call you a few times this morning but there was no answer, so I came over just to let you know that I'm not going to be able do anything today, ok? I'm sorry but I really can't, I'm just not up for it right now."

"You sure Kim? I mean, you look like someone who could use some relaxation right about now. Or maybe you'd like to talk about stuff or something?"

"No, I…" Kim hesitated for a short moment, and then continued, "No. I just need to get some more sleep Monique… and work this out in my head on my own, ok?"

"Look Kim, to tell the truth, I didn't invite you over today just to watch movies and hang out. I wanted to talk to you about other things…"

"What do you mean, 'other things'?" Kim said suspiciously, sensing something in Monique's tone.

"I mean; I want to know what's going on with you Kim. All these changes with you over the last few months? The hair, the clothes, the attitude? It's like you're a different person half the time, and we just want to know why, because frankly, you haven't said word one about any of it on your end, just evade and avoid, y'dig? We're _worried_ about you Kim, and with you not saying anything it's just making it worse for us."

"Oh Jesus Monique, you sound like my mom. I'm fine; I'm just trying some stuff out, ok? And who the hell is 'we' exactly?"

" 'We' is pretty much everyone who knows you Kim. All your friends. Me, Ron, Wade, we're all worried about you, and we just want to understand what's going on. Please, can we just talk about it?"

"I— it's just— no. I'm sorry Mo, but there's nothing to talk about, really. Look, I've gotta go, ok?" Kim said, turning and heading for the front door.

"No, it's not ok Kim." Monique said, hardening her heart for what she had to do next, not wanting to, but knowing there was no other way now. Darting after Kim she reached out and caught the other girl's shoulder, turning Kim back towards her.

"Look, I'm not going to tell you what you have to do; it's your life and you can live it however you want to, but, I also don't have to stand around and watch what's happening while you refuse to tell anyone what's going on. I'd like to think I'm your best girlfriend Kim, and I can't stand seeing what's going on with you without being able to help you with it, or if I can't do that, then at least to know _why_ it's happening. I _care_ about you Kim, but I won't let you hold me off anymore; it's not fair that everyone has to deal with whatever's going on with you on your terms only; friendship has to work both ways!"

"Fair! What the hell do you know about fair? I'm the one that's dealing with all this crap! _I'm_ the one that's expected to be the good little girl all the time, and save the damn world in my spare time too! How the hell can you possibly understand what I'm going through?" Kim shouted at Monique angrily.

"Don't give me that bullshit Kim," Monique responded, her eyes flashing with the anger rising in her as well. "Everyone thinks their own problems are worse than anyone else's, but they usually aren't. I might not be in the same position you're in, but I _can_ understand it. And if your problems really _are_ worse, how the hell are we supposed to help you with them if you won't _tell_ us anything about what's going on?"

"Look Kim," Monique said, struggling to calm her tone, "I don't want to fight with you. I just want to help. But if you won't let me, I know there's no way I can make you—you just can't help someone who doesn't want help. But like I said, I don't have to stand around and be forced to watch what's going on while worry tears me up inside just because you won't let me in either."

"What do you mean Monique?" Kim said, her tone shifting to concern as her anger drained away and was replaced by threads of anxiety.

"I mean that if you walk out now instead of talking to me then we're done. I'll always be your friend Kim, and if you ever do finally decide you want to talk to me I'll be there for you in a heartbeat, but I _won't_ be hurt just because you only want to deal on your own terms; it's not fair to me. _Please_ Kim, just talk to me." Monique begged, desperate not to have to follow through on her promise.

"I… you'd really? Why Mo? Why can't you just leave it alone? It's… they're my problems. It's just… it's just so complicated. So… messed up. So totally beyond the drama. I can't… it's too much to… please Mo, I can't, I just… can't." Kim said, conflicted emotions playing over her face in an anguished display.

"Yes you _can_ Kim, you can. I know you can, even if it seems to you that you can't." Monique said with a calming tone of reassurance and concern, taking Kim by the shoulders and looking her square in the eyes. "Please Kim, talk to me. Does it have something to do with your internship or is it something else? Tell me what's got you so messed up you feel you can't talk to anyone about it. Please?"

"I… yes. I mean… no. I mean it's not… it's…" Kim trailed off, obviously torn between still wanting to leave so she could avoid talking about her problems and the need to have someone to talk to about them—as well as fear that Monique meant what she said earlier.

"Ok, that's good, that's good. See, you _can_ do this. Now, is it the job? Is it too much pressure for you on top of everything else, or is it something else there? I don't know exactly what it is they do, but are they doing anything you're having trouble dealing with? I know big corporations can get away with some pretty shady stuff and still have it be legal. Did you find out something they're involved with or something?"

Kim gave a short, derisive laugh before replying; "Something they're doing? Honestly Monique I probably know about as much as _you_ do about whatever it is they do. And pressure?" Kim snorted. "No, not the way you mean…"

"Well then, if it's not that is it the woman you're working for? Corscan, I think you called her? Is she mean or something? Treating you like a gofer instead of helping you learn anything or get work experience like she's supposed to?"

"What? No, no, she's not… mean, not really. And she's… she's definitely teaching me… things…"

"But it _is_ something with her, isn't it?" Monique demanded firmly, taking note of the peculiar tone Kim used with her last answer.

"I… I really don't want to… I can't… say… please Monique; can't you just let it go?"

"Kim, I want to know. I want to help. Tell me what's going on, please? You know you can tell me anything; tell me this…"

"Anything?" Kim's eyes glistened and her voice dropped to a bare whisper, each word coming with a timid, questioning hesitation Monique could scarcely believe. "Even… even that we're… sleeping together?"

"You're _what_? You don't mean… You _can't_ mean…" Monique shouted, her eyes going wide with shock, so totally surprised that she was blurting out loud the short-circuit her mind seemed to be experiencing trying to process what Kim had just told her. Unfortunately, Kim completely misinterpreted her shocked response as something else entirely.

"_Yes_, sleeping together god damnit!" Kim shouted back, anger and hurt filling her eyes as she started to cry. "Engaging in sexual relations! Fucking each other senseless! Are you fucking happy now? Now you know the big fucking secret; Kim Possible's a fucking dyke! Go out and tell the fucking world why don't you?"

Kim shrugged off Monique's hands and spun around, sobbing, stumbling towards the front door and escape from the friend she thought had hurt her so.

_Hmmm_… _y'know, I really did think it'd be Bonnie that made her snap, not me_… the random thought flitted through Monique's head an instant before she sprang forward, chasing after Kim and latching onto her arm, literally dragging the other girl to a halt.

"No, wait Kim! I didn't mean anything by that! I just… it was shock, ok? You blew my mind, literally! Come on, you know I wouldn't hurt you like that, right? You _know_ I wouldn't! Please Kim, _stop_! Please!"

Kim half turned back to Monique and hiccupped; "R-really? You're not… you don't?"

"No, no, of course not. It's just not something I ever expected to hear _you_ say. Hell, _any_ of it isn't something I ever expected to hear you say. But I could care less about that, really Kim. You're my friend and that's all that matters girl. Besides, it's two-thousand-and-five, not the freaking dark ages. If Willow could be Gay why not Kim Possible?" Monique joked, trying to lift her friend's spirits.

"Oh Monique, I'm— I'm _s-so_ s-sorry I yelled at you, b-but it's— it's just that I-I've been _s-so_ scared someone w-would find out and that— that they w-wouldn't like me anymore b-because of it…" Kim wept, turning all the way back to Monique, the anguish over both her fears and having lashed out at her friend plain on her face.

"It's ok Kim, it's ok." Monique tried to answer reassuringly, even though there were tears in her eyes now too. Pulling her friend closer to her and hugging her tightly she continued; "I know it's scary, but trust me girlfriend, anyone _worth_ being friends with won't care about it, and if they do, then just screw 'em, y'dig? Who you wanna hook up with is no one's business but your own, and it doesn't damn well matter one damn bit whether it's a guy or a girl."

"Thank you Monique…" Kim said softly and fiercely as she hugged her friend back.

For a long time they just stood in the embrace, Monique quietly comforting her friend as Kim slowly stopped crying and got control of herself. Then Monique gently pulled back from her and said; "C'mon girl, let's get you cleaned up, ok?"

" 'K." Kim snuffled as Monique led her back into the living room and over to the couch.

"Sit down while I go find you some Kleenex."

Kim sat down and waited while Monique quickly went to the kitchen and then returned with a big box of pale blue tissue paper, a few pieces already in her hand as she wiped away the traces of her own more subdued crying. Handing the other girl the box, Monique sat down and watched while Kim wiped her eyes and face and then honked long and loud several times blowing her nose. Despite trying her best, Monique couldn't help the smile that was creeping across her face or chuckling as she watched Kim's puffy, now totally bloodshot red-rimmed eyes and reddened nose.

"What?" Kim demanded, looking up over her ball of Kleenex.

"Girl, you _really_ need to get over this need to be the best at everything you do. I mean, you're taking it too far when you start applying it to looking like crap, seriously."

"Mo!" Kim shouted indignantly, even though a smile was starting to spread unwillingly over her own face as well.

"I'm just sayin'…" Monique laughed, and she felt good when Kim chuckled and then joined in a bit herself a few seconds later.

"So, you feelin' better now? Do you think you'd like to talk about this some more, or do you want to wait a bit?"

"No, I don't think so… The hard part's over I guess, right? I… I'd like to talk with you Monique, I really would. It's been so long since I've had anyone to talk to about these things besides Corscan, and I _really_ wanted to be able to tell you about this and other stuff, but… I was just too scared. I'm sorry…"

Kim started to tear up a little again, and she quickly wiped her eyes once more with a new tissue.

"It's ok Kim, really. You don't need to be scared anymore, just try and let it go, ok?"

Kim nodded and went to draw her legs up onto the couch, then noticed she still had her boots on since she hadn't intended on staying. Setting her Kleenex ball aside the girl began to undo the laces of the heavy leather boots while Monique looked on quietly, patiently letting her work the mundane task in the hopes it would help ground her emotional state. Once Kim took off her boots she finally drew her legs up onto the couch and folded them in front of her before taking one of the pillows and hugging it to her chest.

"Ok Mo, where do you want to start?" Kim said softly, seeming much calmer now.

Monique had given that very issue a good deal of thought while she watched Kim, and she had come to some very unsettling conclusions as to what she thought she needed to ask her, but she knew she had to be _really_ careful in how she went about doing it. If she _was_ right about what she _dearly_ hoped she was _not_ right about then one misstep could cause Kim to pull away from her and bottle up again. Monique knew from indirect experience that if she _were_ right, denial and withdrawal would be the first reactions and they would be very, very hard to get through, if she even could at all.

"Well, let's see… I know that Corscan is your boss, and I think you told me she was also the owner of the company, right? Not a CEO, but the actual owner? No board of directors or shareholders or anything?" At Kim's nod Monique continued. "And I assume that she's… ummm… older? to be in that position, right?"

"Yeah, she's older, but she's not _old_ old Mo. She's only twenty-seven. And she's in better shape than _I_ am…" the last bit was said with a strange tone of amusement and irritation.

"I… see. Well, that's cool I guess, but still… I don't want you to take this the wrong way Kim, but, ummm… are you ahhh… _sure_ you're into girls now?" before Kim could answer Monique pushed on quickly. "I mean, I know you're sleeping with Corscan and all, but that doesn't necessarily mean you're into girls, just that you're into _her_, y'know?"

"Yeah Mo, I'm pretty sure I'm 'into' girls now." The way Kim said it… Monique thought it sounded a little off, so she just looked at her with one eyebrow raised slightly. Kim sat looking back at Monique uncomfortably before finally sighing, grimacing, and adding; "Let's just say that if you don't know what's it's attached to, Bonnie has a pretty nice ass, ok?"

"Ewww," Monique scrunched up her face in disgust, "_Bonnie_? Girl, that's just _wrong_!"

"Hey! I said if you don't know it's hers… and I didn't. And when I did… oh yeah, definitely ick factor five… Now can we please talk about something other than Bonnie's ass?"

Monique couldn't help but laugh. "Oh yeah, _definitely_ whole new worlds of conversation opening up here after hearing you say _that_."

Kim gave a soft snort of amusement and shook her head slowly, looking down at her lap as she did.

"Ok, so I guess we've pretty much established beyond a shadow of a doubt that it isn't just Corscan you're into. Cool. So, how exactly did it happen anyway? I mean, what was it? All those late nights in the office with you and her alone, rubbing shoulders over the work? Did you go for her or was it her that, y'know, made the first move? Did she just ask you out out of the blue or did you see it coming? I mean, it wasn't something stupid like the boss hitting on a secretary and you going for it, right?" Monique laughed to diffuse her last comment in order to have a better chance of getting Kim to admit it if it was something like that.

Kim snorted again, louder this time, and smiled wryly while answering; "No, it certainly wasn't like _that_ Mo. And it was definitely her who came after me, no doubt about that either. Actually, the first time I slept with her was weeks before the whole job thing started up. I pretty much went to 'work' for her so we could see each other easier…"

"Ahhhh, come again? You mean you're not actually doing anything down there other than…" Monique felt her face heat up from the blush hidden under her dark complexion as she trailed off, unsure exactly how to finish the question.

Another snort and a bigger smile came from Kim.

"Heh heh… no Mo, I'm not flying hundreds of miles a day just to get laid regularly. She really is teaching me a lot of things," Kim blushed suddenly at Monique's expression, "no; not _those_ kinds of things—well, ok, that _too_," Kim's blush deepened, "but I meant real stuff. She's teaching me how to fight, teaching me tactics and planning, how to handle people socially and to lead them, and… well, just lots of stuff; stuff I can really _use_."

"Don't you already know how to fight? I mean, what is it, sixteen styles of Kung Fu I think you said you knew?"

"Heh… apparently not. Apparently, there's fighting, and then there's _fighting_." At Monique's questioning expression Kim added; "Yeah, I didn't get it either, but trust me, there's a difference. Look Mo, this all happened pretty weirdly, and I honestly can't say it didn't _stay_ a little weird even up to now. How's'about I just tell you everything from the start; all that's happened up to this point, 'k? Otherwise this conversation will probably get really, really complicated if you just keep asking me stuff…"

"Ahhh… yeah, yeah, I think that might be a good idea Kim. But gimmi a sec, 'k? I wanna go get us some food and something to drink, since I'm guessin' this is gonna take a while, right?"

Kim nodded in response and then added; "Do you want some help?"

"No, that's ok. You just sit tight and I'll be right back… is there anything you want me to get you while I'm in there?"

Kim shook her head while answering; "No, thank you Mo. Whatever you have is fine."

Monique got off the couch and went into the kitchen, quickly hunting down a couple of bags of chips, a box of cookies, and a plastic-wrapped twelve-pack of mixed cans of soda before heading back into the living room and setting the supplies down on the coffee table, halfway between Kim and herself. Sitting back down, Monique got comfortable as she opened one of the orange sodas and took a drink.

"Ok Kim, ready anytime you are…"

"Well, it all started about two weeks after Christmas…"


	3. Mysterious Benefactor

"I'm really, really sorry the avalanche destroyed the snowcat and the two snowmobiles you gave us to use Mr.… Stanton was it? Stuff like this doesn't usually… ok; stuff like this happens to me all the time, but never when I'm using someone else's equipment… at least, almost never. I'm sure we can do something for you to make up for it…" Kim trailed off, feeling as lame as her apology.

She still couldn't believe she'd lost what had to be over fifty thousand dollars in vehicles, all because the wind shear from the storm-shield Professor Dementor had been using forced her and Ron to approach his mountain lair by ground instead of air. Then the Napoleonic little twit had to throw a tantrum like the child he was the height of instead of losing with good grace, activating a self-destruct that brought the entire mountain down around its base, destroying the transportation and burying whatever remained of all three machines under a hundred tons of ice, snow, and stone.

"That's perfectly all right Ms. Possible," the big mustached man in a blue-grey jumpsuit responded. "I was instructed to provide you with whatever we had that you required, under full release. You bear absolutely no liability for what happened, I assure you, and even if we can't figure out a way to get this covered by our insurance plan, the company can easily absorb the expense. Please don't trouble yourself over this any further." Mr. Stanton paused for a long moment, then added with a smile; "though if you don't mind me saying Ms. Possible, it really is refreshing to see a young lady so intent on upholding her responsibilities in this day and age. I wish my own daughter was more like you."

Kim blushed slightly, embarrassed to be receiving praise over a situation where she felt she deserved anything but, and stammered; "Well, ok, if you're _sure_ there's nothing I can do to make up for it—and please, call me Kim."

"Really, there's nothing to make up for… Kim. Now, is there anything else I can do for you before I get back to work?"

"No thank you Mr. Stanton, you've done more than enough already. I need to get going anyway; I've got to find Ron and get him to the airstrip before our ride takes off."

"Alright Kim, good luck on finding your friend—I think I saw him heading into the terminal when I was coming back to the office actually; you might want to start there. Oh, and thank you for taking care of that little problem we were having too. It would have been a real mess having to deal with that Professor Dementor guy instead of the normal local types, that's for sure."

"No big; it's what I do. Thanks for the lead on Ron Mr. Stanton, bye." Kim waved over her shoulder as she headed off across the snowy ground, hunching over and huddling into her parka against the wind and stomping her boots every ten steps or so to knock the caked slush off of them. Dementor's storm-shield had done a real number on the local environment; the small airfield was still digging out from the constant snow that had been falling for the last three days, and it looked like they'd be doing so for quite some time to come.

Arriving at the terminal, Kim knocked her boots clean one last time before pushing the door open and quickly slipping into the building. Once inside she was immediately hit by a blast of overheated air being forced out of the air system at high volume. Suddenly sweating, Kim struggled out of her mittens and parka before tossing the jacket over one shoulder and moving into the central hall. Looking around Kim soon spotted Ron—still in his parka and mittens—sitting hunched over a huge steaming mug at a table in the small public commissary to the left of the hall.

As Kim approached the table Ron looked up and said "S-s-so-o-o-o c-c-cold," with a haunted, put-upon expression of suffering.

"Hey, at least you're not blue anymore Ron." Kim joked back, smiling as she set her gear down and took a seat.

"T-t-that's w-what y-you t-think; I-I'm b-blue on t-the ins-side K-Kim. D-do y-you t-think i-it's p-possible t-to f-freeze t-to d-death a-and n-not r-realize it?" the shivering teen responded, teeth chattering as he did so.

"Come on Ron, you're exaggerating. You were only stuck in that snow bank for ten minutes or so."

"T-that d-doesn't c-count t-the hours w-we s-spent out in t-the c-cold g-getting to D-Dementor's l-lair." Ron replied.

"Well, it was warm enough once we got inside."

"And w-we w-were o-only inside f-for w-what? T-twenty m-minutes or s-so? And then w-we h-had t-to w-walk back here t-too. I d-don't t-think I-I'll ever b-be w-warm again." Ron mourned.

"Ron, seriously, that nice EMT checked you out and everything; there's nothing wrong with you, it's all in your head." Kim chided.

"I d-don't c-care w-what some f-fancy c-calculator s-says, I'm f-freaking f-freezing here Kim!" Ron ranted before taking a long pull on his extra-large mug of steaming hot coco.

"Ok Ron, whatever you say. Hey Rufus!" Kim called out loudly, and a few seconds later Rufus came crawling out from under Ron's coat, tunneling up his chest and out through the parka's hood to land on the tabletop in front of Kim.

"Hunh?" the rodent grunted inquisitively.

"You wouldn't happen to have any supplies stashed away in there would you? Like say, a few packets of Diablo hot sauce maybe?" Kim asked Rufus.

"Ya-hunh! Ya-hunh!" Rufus nodded enthusiastically before running over to Ron's hand and disappearing into the opening of the parka's sleeve, tunneling up the arm and down his chest while Ron squirmed around and tried his best not to laugh from the rodent's tickling travels. A few moments later Rufus was on his way out again, this time taking the short path, heading down to the floor and then hopping up on a chair to get to the tabletop with another jump, a yellow packet of Diablo hot sauce clutched in his paws. Scampering over to Kim he held out his prize with a toothy grin and a chattered "ta-da!"

"Thanks Rufus," Kim said, taking the packet from him and opening it carefully before turning to Ron and sliding her hand over to him with the upright packet between her fingers. "Ok Ron, if you're freezing to death then there's nothing else to do but get something in you to warm you up, and this certainly qualifies."

"Y-you want m-me t-to t-take a h-hit of D-Diablo h-hot s-sauce s-straight up? _W-what are y-you mad w-woman?_" Ron objected.

"Do you want to be warm or do you want to sit there and complain for the five minutes we have left before we need to go outside again to catch our ride? And I don't think there's going to be much in the way of heat in that cargo plane either…" Kim responded sternly, getting a little fed up with Ron's whining over what she knew was just in his head.

Ron looked over at the distant snowbound entrance to the terminal and shuddered as a gust of wind blew a swirl of snow past the frosted glass. Sighing, he looked back at Kim and said; "Ok K-Kim, b-but if I d-die i-it's on y-your h-head."

"I'll see that you get a full state funeral Ron, now drink up," Kim said dryly.

Ron slipped off his right mitten and reached out with a trembling hand to take the packet of sauce from Kim. Exhaling once, he brought it up to his mouth and threw back his head, sucking the packet dry and swallowing as fast as he could. Slamming his hand back down on the table like he'd just finished a shot of Tequila, he looked at Kim with a curious expression.

"You know, that wasn't nearly as bad as I thought—" Ron cut off suddenly, a thin sheen of sweat breaking out over his face as his now watering eyes bugged out of their sockets and a flush rushed across his features. In front of Kim, Rufus had time to murmur "oh-oh" before Ron gripped the table and shouted; "Oh whoa momma!"

Snatching up his mug, it took only three huge gulps for Ron to bolt it's remaining contents—which, unfortunately for him, he had forgotten was coco he had specifically ordered only slightly less hot than molten steel.

"Gahhh!" Ron screamed and shot up from his chair, head snapping back and forth frantically as he scanned the room for anything that could help him. A second later his eyes locked onto the drinking fountain and he was off like a shot, covering the distance in a mere heartbeat before jamming his head under a blissfully frigid stream of water and sucking it down like air to a drowning man.

Kim just smiled and watched Ron's antics with amused chagrin. Just like the cold, most of this was also in Ron's head—he held Diablo hot sauce in the same reverence as every other Bueno Nacho product after all. Using her finger to take a dab of the sauce that had stuck to the top she'd ripped off the packet, Kim brought it up to her mouth and licked it off, pulling her fingertip along the length of her tongue to get full exposure. A moment later her eyes misted a little and her temperature spiked a touch as the spices and pepper juice registered, but it wasn't close to being as bad as Ron made it out to be. She wouldn't want to have to swallow a whole packet of the stuff without having something to drink afterwards, but she knew she certainly could if she had to.

Snorting, Kim shook her head and looked down at Rufus, who was grinning ear to ear in amusement over his owner's plight. The little rodent seemed to chuckle, and he looked up to wink at Kim before scampering over to where Ron had dropped his mug on its side. Rufus stuck half his length into the mug and happily wagged his tail as he began to lap at the thick dregs of chocolate stuck to the bottom of the cup.

A short while later Ron was back at the table in only his t-shirt, with his parka, mittens, sweater, and scarf thrown haphazardly over the chairs next to him, and fanning himself with a laminated menu while he sweated bullets.

"I'm telling you KP, I sure wish these sciency nutjobs would lose the preference for snowbound mountaintop lairs. I mean, why can't they all be like the Seniors? Nice warm beaches, tropical islands, downtown LA or some trendy European nightclub; they never do their thing anywhere cold. Even Monkey Fist and Duff Killigan know better than to build somewhere they can freeze their butts off at, and it's not like they're in any Brain Trusts. But these so-called super geniuses? Yeah, I'm just not seein' it…"

"Heh… well Ron, I'm sure you can have a nice long chat with Dementor or Drakken about the locations of their bases the next time we see either of them." Kim joked.

"Maybe I will Kim, if it means never having to deal with someplace like this again…" Ron answered, a serious expression on his face.

"Hey! I was joking Ron!" Kim said sharply. "You know the rule."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Ron raised his right hand, placed his left over his heart, and closed his eyes as if reciting a pledge. " 'I am never to make any suggestions to anyone, _ever_, that could even remotely be construed as super villain advice.' But I mean c'mon Kim, those guys are already super villains anyway, what can it hurt?"

"_No_ Ron." Kim said firmly, eliciting a sigh from the other teen. "Come on, you need to get dressed again, we've gotta get to strip five in the next seven minutes or so or we'll miss our ride."

Ron nodded and began putting on his gear once more while Kim followed suit, finishing up much faster than Ron mainly by dint of having less to put back on. A short while later both teens were outside and bent over against the wind as they headed to airstrip number five.

Coming around a hanger at the end of the strip, Kim and Ron saw that the heavy cargo transport they were going to be flying on had already been towed into position, and was being fueled while one of the pilots watched the ground crew work with a careful eye.

As Kim approached the pilot, she looked up to see what was becoming a familiar logo on the tail of the plane; an upright dull yellow oval with a black interlocked uppercase 'C' and 'I' centered in it. The lower arc of the 'C' bisected the 'I' in its center, with the upper bar of the 'I' resting in the center of the 'C'. The resulting symbol strongly resembled a globe of the world, and that semblance was further enhanced by the space inside of the 'C' being colored blue.

Kim's eyes narrowed and she muttered something under her breath in irritation before both her and Ron's heads snapped up to look at the pilot as he screamed; "Hey you fucking moron, are you _trying_ to blow us all to kingdom come or are you just fucking incompetent? Put that fucking thing back in your goddamn pocket and get the fuck away from that hose right now or I'll put my foot so far up your sorry ass you'll be shitting shoe polish for a month!"

By the look on the pilot's face and the stance he was in, Kim and Ron thought that unlike most bluster they'd heard from "colorful" folk before, this man really intended to carry out his threat. Quickly the two teens followed his gaze over to where one of the ground crew was standing looking back at the pilot, a thick dull metallic case about the size of a package of cigarettes in his hands. The man blanched and put the case away before quickly relocating to the far front side of the fuel truck.

Continuing on to the pilot, Kim and Ron were close enough that they could hear him mutter; "What kind of fucking idiot tries to change a chem-pack hand warmer while pumping a thousand gallons of jet fuel into a plane? Jesus I fucking hate these European crap-holes…" while shaking his head in disgust. Looking over to the pair as they came up next to him, the pilot growled out; "and who the hell are you?"

"I'm Ron Stoppable and this is the one and only Kim Possible my good man. I believe you were expecting us?" Ron responded with a smooth, friendly banter.

The pilot's demeanor underwent an abrupt transformation, going from pissed-off to embarrassed and apologetic—and perhaps just a bit fearful. "Oh, right, Mr. Stoppable, Ms. Possible. Sorry about that, I'm under a little stress here as you can see. I hope I didn't offend you."

"It's no big Mr.…?" Kim trailed off.

"Lancer, Tim Lancer. Please, if you and your friend could get onboard as soon as you can I'd appreciate it Ms. Possible, we're already running a little late with the refueling and I'd like to take off as soon as possible."

"All right Mr. Lancer. Before we go would you mind telling me what exactly you were told about us?" Kim asked.

"All I know is that you and your friend will be riding with us to New York City and that we're to extend every courtesy to you while you're with us. I don't understand it since it breaks three or four FAA regs, but the order comes straight from HQ so I'm doin' what I'm told."

"Ok, thank you Mr. Lancer." Kim responded before heading over to the tail end of the plane and ascending the short ladder-steps leading to the rear hatch, Ron in tow. Looking around the packed cargo hold, Kim headed towards the front of the plane, weaving through the cramped corridor formed by the well-secured crates and boxes filling the hold.

"What's up KP? You seem tweaked." Ron asked from behind Kim as he followed her.

"I'm not tweaked Ron… well, not exactly, but I am concerned." Kim responded as they came out into an open area just before the stairs leading up to the cockpit. Two pairs of uncomfortable looking seats were bolted to the walls on either side of the stairwell, facing back towards the rear of the plane, and Kim headed for the left pair while Ron headed to the right, knowing that with seats like those it was better to sit apart than together for maximum chances of comfort—not that either teen expected much in the way of that.

"Concerned?" Ron queried while he unzipped his parka and stuffed his mittens into the pockets of the heavy coat.

"Don't you find it a little odd that we've gotten at least five rides from these guys in the last few weeks Ron? And they gave us that boat in Brazil and the snowcat and snowmobiles we lost here too." Kim answered as she took off her mittens as well, but unlike Ron, she left them hanging by their strings while she dug around inside her coat to get out her Kimmunicator.

"Hunh? I don't remember seeing Lancer before Kim, you sure about this? I think I'd remember that guy."

"I don't mean _these_ guys specifically Ron, I mean the outfit they work for."

"Once more I'm going to have to go with _hunh_?"

Looking over at Ron Kim raised an eyebrow and with careful patience spelled out her line of thought; "The logo on the tail of this plane? The one that was on all the other planes? And the jumpsuit Mr. Stanton wore? The one that's on _that box right there_? C'mon Ron, even you can't have missed them all."

"Oh, oooohhhh; the _lo-go_. Mmmm, yeah, ok, that makes sense. But what's the big dealie? So the same guys have been giving us rides, that's a problem how?"

"Not a problem, but a little suspicious." Kim answered.

"Ahhh, how so KP?"

"Well Ron, do _you_ remember doing anything to help out any of the people we've met on these rides, or doing anything that involved this company? Because _I_ sure don't…"

"Well, we help out so many people I kinda don't really keep track anymore KP," Ron said with a hint of embarrassment. "You seem to remember everyone and I just assume Wade knows what he's doing, so I really don't give it much thought as long as we get where we're going."

"Ron!"

"Hey, I have enough on my mind trying to get through Barkin's English and History classes thank you very much. I can't be expected to keep track of a few hundred names and faces that we add to every week. I mean come on KP, even _you_ can't tell me you remember _everyone_ we've helped out anymore."

Kim sighed as Ron hit home on her. "Yeah, ok Ron, I guess you're right, even I'm having trouble keeping track of everyone now, but I'm _sure_ I'm right about these guys. And you really should at least _try_ to keep up with these things Ron."

"Like I say KP, I'm a 'Big Picture' kinda guy, not a details guy." Ron ended with a jaw-cracking yawn as he settled into his seat and tried as best he could to get comfortable while he strapped himself in.

Kim just shook her head and returned her attention to her Kimmunicator. Triggering the direct line to Wade, Kim only had to wait a few seconds before the small screen blossomed with a view of the young computer prodigy ensconced in his nest of high-tech hardware.

"Hey Kim, what's up?" Wade said with a cheery smile.

"Hey Wade, got a question for you," Kim replied.

"Shoot Kim."

"You haven't recently incorporated yourself or branched out into mergers and acquisitions have you?" Kim asked.

Wade half choked on his drink and once he swallowed he quickly replied; "Say what now Kim? I don't understand what you're asking."

"Well, five out of our last seven rides have come from people that I don't remember doing anything for, they all seem to work for the same company—which I also don't remember having anything to do with—and less than a half-hour ago I was told that my losing tens of thousands of dollars worth of equipment they provided us with was no big. So if you haven't gone corporate on us Wade then I'd really like to know what exactly is going on here."

"Oh… ummm, tens of thousands of dollars worth of equipment?" Wade asked, still confused.

"A snowcat and two snowmobiles, buried under what's left of the mountain Dementor built his lair in. Now spill Wade, what's going on?"

"Well Kim, it's not me. It's still going to be a long time before I can get enough support and capital together to…" Wade trailed off, looking uncomfortable. "Ahhh, you didn't hear any of that, ok?"

"Sure Wade," Kim responded with a wry smile and a soft chuckle. "Now, can you please tell me what's going on?"

"Alright, you remember the mission to Australia? That was the first time you and Ron got a ride from Corsair International. As you know Kim, every now and then there just aren't any options open to get you where you need to go using rides from the people you've helped out. It doesn't come up too often, but it does come up enough that I had to create some contingency plans to deal with it when it does. One of those plans is basically bartering. I trade off the favors one person or group can do to another person or group that doesn't owe you anything in return for the transport—sometimes I even do it to get my hands on other equipment and supplies you need from time to time."

"On the mission to Australia there were only a handful of possible travel options that could have gotten you there in time, so I started with the most likely one like I always do, and that was a long-distance shipping run out of Miami being run by CI, since I _could_ get you down there through favors in time to catch it. I contacted CI and quickly got a hold of the higher-ups that could authorize it and told them what was going on, what I needed, and generally what I could offer. They put me on hold for about fifteen minutes, and I started running other searches while I waited, but as it turned out they were more than willing to help us out."

"I made the arrangements and then I set out to see what exactly they wanted from us in return, but the guy I was dealing with said that wasn't necessary, that the authorization had come direct from the top and that they didn't want anything in return."

"And you didn't think that was strange Wade?" Kim interrupted.

"Well, not exactly Kim. It's happened a few times before. I mean, you _are_ on the news every month or so as the leading story in how you stopped someone from taking over the world after all. Every now and then someone knows who you are and is willing to help out just to help out. But I gotta admit this _is_ the first time I've ever gotten that response from a big business." Wade answered.

"So, that explains the first time, but what about the rest? And the other things too, like the boat and snowcat." Kim asked.

"Well, when we were done talking the corp guy ended by telling me that if there was ever anything else the company could do for us down the line I shouldn't hesitate to ask. Now, normally I'd take that as standard corp exec BS, but given the fact that they helped us out without asking for anything, it stuck in my head."

"A week later I was running into the same kind of problems getting you where you needed to go, though not as badly—it's just that the only routes I could come up with would have taken you way out of your way and burned through a lot more favors than it should have if I could have found you a more direct route. And there _was_ an almost direct route to the location by using, you guessed it, another CI flight. So, I took a shot and called them up again. They put me through to a Mr. Wainwright, and a few minutes later we were all set up."

"The next time it was Brazil, and when I offhandedly mentioned only needing a boat now, Mr. Wainwright said they could give us one of those too. After that, I started calling them anytime one of their options had a better route than any of our own."

"Ok Wade, that makes perfect sense, except, y'know, the parts that make no sense whatsoever." Kim responded with irritation once Wade was done. "If it was just the rides I suppose I could buy it, but big corporations don't hand over vehicles to a couple of high school kids to do whatever they want with, no matter who they are, and they sure don't spend this kind of money without getting something out of it in return. There's gotta be something more going on here, don't you think?"

"Please Kim," Wade answered with a touch of disdain, "do you really think I wouldn't have checked these guys out myself? I know the whole deal looks fishy, but I ran a check on the company and it seems legit, and they haven't even made a suggestion of wanting anything in return; I make sure to work that point in on every ride I ask from them so they can't claim we owe them something after the fact. I've covered all the bases Kim, and I only use them if I can't come up with something better on my own, so I'm not letting us become reliant on them just in case they cut us off in the future for some reason."

"I'm sorry Wade, I didn't mean to imply you weren't on the ball, it's just that this whole sitch feels weird to me. I know you should never look a gift horse in the mouth, but with the life we lead…" Kim trailed off.

"That gift horse might be a genetically altered killing machine with a taste for cheerleaders?" Wade finished, only half joking despite his smile.

"Exactly. Look, would you mind doing a deeper background check on these guys Wade? It really would make me feel better about all this."

"No problem Kim. Honestly by this point I've kinda been wanting to do that myself, but with everything else I've got on my plate I've had to keep it on the back burner for a while now."

"Thanks a lot Wade, I really appreciate it. Call me as soon as you're finished, ok?"

"Alright Kim, I should have something for you before you get home unless something comes up. Have a good flight." Wade answered before ending the connection.

Kim smiled as she looked up and saw that Ron was already asleep in the seat he was strapped into, explaining his silence during the conversation. Putting her Kimmunicator away before settling down into her seat, Kim tried her best to get comfortable before pulling out her algebra homework and sighing. She never should have let Monique talk her into taking advanced math this year; the work was just a step beyond what she was comfortable with, and she hated having to constantly make an effort to wrap her head around the stuff.

Just as she was finding the right page in the textbook Kim heard a loud banging from the rear of the plane, and a few moments later she could make out Lancer squeezing his way up the narrow aisle toward her. As the pilot came into the open area he nodded to her brusquely and said; "We'll be taking off just as soon as we finish the last pre-flight check Ms. Possible. If everything stays on schedule we should have you in New York in just under eight hours." Without waiting for a reply Lancer headed up the stairs and disappeared behind the cockpit door.

Sighing once more, Kim settled in for what she expected would be a much longer seeming flight than it actually was.

* * *

Kim jerked awake at the familiar musical chirp of her Kimmunicator. Looking around with gummy, blinking eyes, she groped for the device while trying to clear the cobwebs from her muzzy head. The last thing she remembered was chatting with Ron after finishing the last of her homework and studies. She must have nodded off some point after that. Looking over at Ron for a second she saw that he had fallen asleep again, though Rufus was up in the second seat and playing Street Fighter 2 Classic on the Super Nintendo emulator Wade had programmed into Ron's Kimmunicator, snickering and adulating himself as he demolished his latest opponent.

Finally digging out her Kimmunicator, Kim triggered the receive button and yawned as she said, "What's the sitch Wade?"

"I've finished running the background check on CI Kim, more or less," Wade answered.

"More or less?" Kim asked, steadily shaking off the lethargy that came from sleeping in such uncomfortable surroundings.

"Well, I've still got search algorithms and data compilers running on the bulk of their staff and day-to-day activities; those will take a long time to finish no matter what, and, there were a few lines of inquiry I decided not to follow unless you decided you wanted me to."

"Like what?" Kim asked curiously.

"Well Kim, it turns out that although CI runs the equivalent of a high-end corporate transport version of Fed-Ex, the main field they're involved in is independent vehicle R&D for several other corporations, scientific institutes, and government organizations. I figured before I took the risk of trying to hack the Pentagon or the Global Justice network I'd see if you wanted me to first."

"So do I?"

"I don't think so Kim. Everything I could find out about the company seems to be on the up-and-up. No connections to anything weird, no outstanding scandals, no patterns of activity outside those you'd expect them to have, and no links to any of your enemies, direct or indirect as far as I can tell. In fact, there's really only one thing out of the ordinary with the entire company."

"And that would be?"

"Well, the entire company was taken over by a woman named Corscan Mataii about four years ago, when she was found to be the sole surviving heir to the man that originally built it from the ground up. She was his distant cousin—_very_ distant. Kinda like it was in that Adam Sandler movie Mr. Deeds."

"And there's something fishy there?"

"Well, not exactly… just, curious, like I said. The old man died of completely natural causes and there are no records indicating either he or the woman knew about one another in any way. The first thing that makes it unusual is that the original owner was seriously old-school about his company—he owned it outright. No shareholders and no board of directors he had to answer to; he owned it lock, stock, and barrel. It's not even a corporation because of that, rather a privately owned company."

"And the second?"

"A two-parter. The woman that took over kept it that way, despite enormous potential for profit if she had opened the company up to public trading, and, she's young, _real_ young. She's only twenty-seven," Wade finished specifically, at Kim's inquisitive hum.

"That's not what I'd call 'real' young Wade." Kim said dryly.

"It is in the corporate world Kim. Becoming a divisional vice president before you're thirty is unusual, and a divisional president at thirty-five or forty is the norm. A CEO that's under thirty-five is almost unheard of. And apparently this woman's pretty good at the job too, since company profits have been steady or rising since she took over."

"So that's the only thing you found that's odd then." Kim stated more than asked.

"Pretty much Kim. One other thing though, while digging around I found out that both the initial go-ahead to give you that first ride and the subsequent ones, along with the other things they provided, came directly from this Corscan woman."

"Oh really?"

"Yep, straight from the top, literally."

"Hmmm… so I assume you dug into her background too?"

"Naturally. But there really wasn't much to find. Nothing unusual other than her lucking out and inheriting the company; she had slightly above average grades at a reputable business college; she maintains low-key charitable donations and social presence. She's not a ghost, but she's not high profile either. Sorry Kim, but nothing stands out about her. I mean, I suppose anything could be going on with her, but everything _I_ could find says there isn't."

"Wade, could you see if this Corscan Mataii is willing to meet with me? It doesn't have to be anything big, just a few minutes of her time." Kim asked.

"I can try Kim. Are you worried we might have another Señor Senior Senior on our hands?"

"That, or maybe a Jack Hench. After all, 'til we met him, we had no idea what he did either."

"Ok Kim, I'll get right on it. I'll call you back once I get something solid, ok?"

"Please and thank you Wade." Kim answered before hanging up on Wade.

Putting down the Kimmunicator, Kim sat lost in thought, too restless now to go back to sleep—and honestly not too interested in doing so anyway, given how lousy she felt after the few hours she had already slept in the uncomfortable seat. She truly hoped she was wrong about the weird vibe she was getting; the last thing she needed was to add another name to the long list of enemies she already had.

It was a few hours later, on the connector flight back to Middleton, when Wade finally called her back.

"What's the sitch Wade?" Kim answered, eager to find out how things had gone.

"Well, I talked to Mr. Wainwright about you wanting to meet with Ms. Mataii, and he called me back about an hour later with the number for her personal assistant. I spent the next half-hour or so getting through to her and then hammering out a time and place—incidentally, keep next Friday afternoon open Kim; it's the only time she can work you in in the next month or so."

"I don't think I'm doing anything then Wade. So, you worked all this out on a Sunday, eh?"

"Yeah, I know. You thinking maybe I should hack the Pentagon or Global Justice after all?"

"No, there's no point in risking that 'til I meet her. We'll see where it goes from there, ok Wade?"

"All right Kim. In that case, you'll need to be ready to go pretty much right after school. They're going to send a car to pick you up there and take you to the airport, where there'll be a private jet waiting to take you to the US headquarters of CI."

"Ok Wade, thanks for all the help."

"No problem Kim, it was my pleasure." Wade answered before ending the connection.

"So what's up KP?" Ron asked once Kim was done talking to Wade, curious as to the nature of the conversation since he was asleep during the earlier one that had led to it.

Kim quickly ran down everything she had discussed with Wade, along with what he had discovered while Ron had been sleeping.

"Well, finding nothing out of the ordinary beats finding another Jack Hench, that's for sure." Ron said. "So, nothing else to do about it 'til Friday, right?"

"Yep, pretty much Ron." Kim answered.

"Ok then, we've got what? About an hour left before we get home? Good, that leaves me just enough time to finish all my homework so I can hook up with Felix tonight and go see Elektra."

"Ron!" Kim just shook her head as Ron replied "What?" obliviously while digging out his schoolbooks and going to work, intently focused on cramming what should have been six hours of effort into just one with all the skill of a master slacker. Kim sighed and leaned back into the much more comfortable seat this plane had. She had the feeling this week was going to go by verrrrry slowly…


	4. Bearding the Lion

"Booyeah!" Ron shouted enthusiastically as he came up behind Kim, jumping forwards to land next to her as she stood on the sidewalk in front of Middleton High waiting for the car that was coming to pick them up. Like Kim, Ron was in his mission gear, including a light winter coat, but he also had a backpack crammed full of weekend homework and seemed to be in exceptionally high spirits.

"You're still amped?" Kim said with a disbelieving smile, taking note of Ron's energetic glee.

"And why not KP? That had to be one of our bondiggityest practices yet! I was in the zone! It was like Mad Dog was speaking through me, a-booyeah! I think that even Bonnie is starting to appreciate the Ron-man after today." Ron replied with a grin.

"Don't count on it loser." The harsh reply came from behind the pair before Kim could respond, and both teens turned to see Bonnie Rockwaller coming up on them with a quiet Tara in tow. The girls were dressed warmly in high-end designer ski gear, and Bonnie looked particularly smug as she gave Kim and Ron the once-over with a depreciating eye. "So K, where are you and your freak friend off to this time? Not that I really care, it's just that I feel sorry for you, having to go do some dirty little job while I'm heading to Château Trevane for the weekend and all."

Kim wouldn't have believed it was possible for Bonnie to look any more pleased with herself than she already did if she hadn't seen it right before her eyes, but somehow that's exactly what happened when the girl announced she was going to the most exclusive ski resort in the tri-city area. As she was trying to come up with an appropriate response—as opposed to the full-armed slap the girl's look was begging for—Kim was simultaneously interrupted by the spine-shivering crunch of tires grinding down hard, dense snow and Ron's low, impressed "Whoa, KP; check it out…"

All four teens stood silent as they watched the subtly stylish Rolls Royce Phantom pull up to the curb beside them. It was a short stretch model with double rear doors and black tinted windows. The blocky front grille stood polished to a blinding silver gleam, as did all the other chrome on the vehicle, and the rest of its slick ebon surface glistened as if the paint was still wet. Coming to a stop, the car rumbled with the purr of a fine precision automobile kept in perfect condition. A moment later, the driver's door opened and a large, extremely handsome Latino man got out of the car wearing an immaculate chauffeur's uniform, the only incongruity to which was the long ponytail of luxuriant, wavy black hair that sprouted from beneath the back of his chauffeur's cap.

Turning his attention to the group as he came around the car to the passenger's side, the driver spoke in a rich, smooth voice; "Miss Possible, Mister Stoppable, my name is Raoul, and I shall be your driver for today. Would you like to depart now or shall I wait?"

Looking around before responding, Kim said; "No thank you Raoul, we're ready to go now."

"Very well Miss Possible." Raoul answered before moving to the far back door and opening it, standing ready once he did so.

Turning to Bonnie, Kim smirked as she said; "Might wanna close your mouth before you get a drool-sicle there Bonnie."

"Hunh? Wha?" Bonnie's teeth clicked together sharply as she realized what Kim was talking about. She'd been staring in slack-jawed admiration of the beautifully handsome chauffeur since he'd stepped from the car.

"Now as to where we're going, well, you know how it is Bonnie; the power-elite _do_ so like their privacy… but I'd tell you if I could, really." Kim said with mock sincerity while she ushered Ron into the limo. Standing in the doorway once Ron was in, Kim looked back at Bonnie and added; "I know it's a dirty job, but someone has to do it after all." Sliding onto the rich leather seat Kim finished with a saccharin-sweet smile; "Have fun on your little trip B," before Raoul closed the door for her.

Smiling, Raoul gave a tip of his cap to Bonnie and Tara, excusing himself with a warm "Ladies," before heading back around the car to get in the driver's seat. Once he was inside, the car pulled away from the curb smoothly and headed for the street, and as it did Kim couldn't help waving at Bonnie with her fingers even though she knew the other girl couldn't see her through the tinted windows. She was eminently satisfied with the look of frustration and anger on her high school rival's face; karma rocked hardcore sometimes.

Turning away from the window as the limo pulled out into traffic, Kim saw that Ron had ensconced himself in the rear-facing seat across from her, settling into the plush leather with a deep smile of content relaxation while Rufus raided the mini-bar fridge built into the small 'island' between the two sets of seats.

"I gotta say Kim, if this turns out to be another villain we're going to meet, we should seriously consider making upscale opposition our main focus. I mean, when's the last time Drakken ever sent a car like this to come take us to him? Heck, when's he ever sent us _anything_ that didn't involve major stress—Christmas presents aside. Jack Hench, Señor Senior Senior? Now those guys have class. They might be villains, but I'm telling you, they know style when they see it."

"Sure Ron, we'll get a whole new circle of enemies just for the perks." Kim responded dryly.

"Hey, c'mon KP, you gotta admit this is a pretty sweet ride—not as good as my gold-plated stretch was, but still pretty nice. It's good to know the opposition appreciates quality. Makes 'em less likely to slap together their latest doomsday thingy using a leaky fusion reactor and duct tape, which means that we don't have to deal with them every other week, like we do with Drakken. A better class of villain just makes our lives easier Kim, trust me."

"Well, we don't even know if Ms. Mataii is anyone we have to worry about, so let's just take it one step at a time, ok Ron? I'd rather keep dealing with Drakken every other week than add another name to the list thank you very much."

"Well, yeah, there is that. Hey Kim, how long do you figure it'll take us to get to the airport anyway?"

"Erm… I don't know, maybe a half-hour, an hour at the most, why?" Kim responded, confused at the abrupt change in conversation.

"Math homework. I wanna finish it before we get on the plane—I'm hoping they'll have a TV or an in-flight movie or something, and I don't want to be distracted."

Kim sighed. She knew Ron well enough to know that he meant having the homework distract him from the entertainment, not the other way around. Still, better he did it now than later; at least this way he wasn't thinking about something else while doing the work, so he had the best chance of actually learning something—or at least of getting the most answers right failing that.

About forty minutes and four tutoring questions from Ron later, the limo was pulling up to a secondary runway at the Middleton Airport after being waved through three security gates. At the end of the runway was a moderate sized, sleek looking private jet that resembled a Gulfstream V except that it had an extra two engines positioned under the normal two, and the wings were thicker, a touch shorter, and more sharply angled.

With a soft hiss the limo's intercom came to life and Raoul's voice said; "We have arrived Ms. Possible." It took Kim a few moments to track down the speaker and interface in the back of the car, but once she did she responded; "Ok, thank you very much Raoul."

The limo came to a smooth, easy stop just a few yards away from the short set of boarding steps that had been placed in front of the plane's front hatch, which was obviously only partially closed, not fully sealed, as it stuck out from the plane by at least two inches. Once the car came to a full stop, Kim and Ron immediately got out before Raoul had time to get out of the vehicle himself and open their doors for them, so the chauffeur moved to the plane and opened that door instead, waiting to one side of it while they came up the steps.

As they passed, Raoul gave a nod and a "Ms. Possible, Mr. Stoppable," to each of them in turn.

Kim stopped at the door and said "Thanks for the ride Raoul," to which he responded; "Thank you very much madam, it was my pleasure," before heading back to the car once Kim entered the plane.

Inside the plane Kim found Ron and Rufus already settling down on the couch that ran half the length of the left side of the plane. There were two pairs of incredibly comfortable looking seats at the front of the cabin, the first pair facing back towards the second pair, a small rectangular table was built into the right wall of the cabin across from the couch and formed an "island" between two more chairs, the floor was covered in thick carpet, and the walls and ceiling were done in what appeared to be real wood paneling polished to a glassy shine.

As Kim stood looking around the luxurious cabin, she heard a noise from behind her and turned in time to see the pilot exiting the cockpit. Moving back slightly, Kim noticed her boots were tracking dirt on the pale tan carpet. With a squeak of alarm she quickly bent down and started taking them off while looking up at the pilot with an embarrassed blush. The pilot however didn't give her a second glance, instead moving to the hatch and out of sight while Kim heard noises that she assumed were coming from him securing it. By the time he was done Kim had her boots off and was standing once more, holding them in hand.

Moving back to the narrow entrance of the cabin, the pilot tipped his hat and said; "Ms. Possible? I'm Shawn Wesker, and I'll be your pilot today. The flight should take around an hour and a half depending on weather conditions, and we'll be taking off shortly. It might be a good idea if you and your friend were to take your seats and buckle up; the Excalibur design has a much higher thrust than most private jets, and it takes a bit of getting used to before most people feel comfortable with the takeoff. It should only take about five minutes to reach cruising altitude, and then you can move about freely until it's time for us to land."

"Digital video and music players are built into each seat, with earphones to the side of the armrest controls should you need them, and are capable of playing any media you brought with you as well as having a considerable on-board library to select from. In addition, Ms. Mataii ordered the galley stocked with a full assortment of food and drink in case you feel like eating during the flight. The washroom is to the rear of the plane, past the galley. Is there anything else you'd like to know before we prepare to get underway?"

Before Kim could answer, Ron said; "Food? There's food?" keenly from behind her.

"Yes sir. Right back there through that sliding door is the galley, and I personally supervised it being stocked, as per Ms. Mataii's orders." The pilot responded, looking past Kim to where Ron was standing in front of the couch. Ron was already heading through the sliding door that the pilot had indicated before Kim had time to chastise him.

"I'm sorry Mr. Wesker. Thank you for the information, I'll make sure that Ron and I are in our seats right away." Kim said as the pilot turned his attention back to her.

"All right Ms. Possible, I'll get back to the cockpit and we'll be underway shortly. Please have a nice flight," the pilot responded.

"Ok, thank you, and call me Kim…" Kim trailed off as the pilot entered the cockpit and closed the door behind him without responding, though he did at least nod and smile before he did so.

Suddenly realizing she hadn't asked about where she could put her boots, Kim took a step forward and looked around the small "foyer" formed by the twin partition walls separating the cabin and the cockpit from the area where the hatch was. Thankfully she saw a set of narrow grillwork shelves an inch off the floor that were obviously meant for that purpose, as they held Ron's boots as well as two pair of rubber over-soles for, she assumed, the pilot & co-pilot's shoes. In addition there was a rack and hangers for coats, so Kim left her own jacket on one alongside the pilots' after she had stowed her boots away.

Heading to the back of the plane, Kim went into the galley in order to collect Ron, but she had to stop and stare for a moment at the impressive layout of the economically designed kitchen. The right wall was a single unit of cabinets built into and above a counter that housed a small sink, narrow fridge, and both a microwave and a small conventional oven. Like the rest of the plane, the galley was done in beautifully polished natural wood, with the countertop appearing to be satin-finished marble.

Looking over to Kim as she entered, Ron had a huge grin on his face while he closed the cabinet he was looking in. "Check it out KP; they've got everything here. Seriously. Chips, pretzels, soda, juice, foot long subs in the fridge…" Ron paused as he opened another cabinet and his eyes widened in surprise. "No way!" he murmured before shouting; "This plane totally rocks!"

"What is it Ron?" Kim asked, curious as to the cause of the enthusiastic, almost awed reaction.

"Check this Kim," Ron pointed into the cabinet, and Kim moved closer so that she could see what he was looking at. "This thing's got warming panels built into it and they've got two pizzas from Viatellie's, a family meal from Wong's House of Noodles, a half-dozen supersized burger meals from Burger Barn, and another half-dozen grande-sized meals from Bueno Nacho in here! It's just so beautiful…" Ron finished with a sniff.

Kim snorted with amusement. "Ok, calm down Ron; there'll be plenty of time to eat after we're off the ground. Speaking of which, the pilot said we'd better buckle up for the takeoff, and that should be happening any minute now, so let's go."

"Ok Kim," Ron answered as he closed the door carefully. Once out in the cabin Ron took the seat opposite the one on which Rufus was just finishing up a long struggle setting up the video screen all by himself.

As Ron sat down he said; "Hey Rufus, _major_ snackage in back; can't wait 'til we get in the air!" to which the rodent seemed to answer "score!" giving Ron a thumbs up before somehow managing to buckle himself into the seat just like his owner was doing across from him.

Kim smiled at the banter as she sat down and strapped herself in too, and she couldn't help but notice that the seat was indeed as comfortable as it looked. Kim didn't want to admit it, but the plane impressed her, and she was even more impressed by the foresight Ms. Mataii showed in stocking the galley so well, considering they were sure to have missed supper during the trip otherwise.

It also didn't hurt that although only her family, Ron, and more recently, Monique, knew about it, Kim was a bottomless pit when it came to food. She usually didn't eat a lot at once, but if she could, she ate constantly and ravenously. Since the time she'd turned thirteen she even managed to outlast Ron's prodigious appetite so often that he didn't even try to compete with her anymore. He could still beat her easily in the short run, but over a night Kim usually ended up putting away nearly twice what he did—though Rufus' contribution tended to even the score between them. The fact that the woman had thought to feed her was a big point in Ms. Mataii's favor in Kim's book, despite Kim's reservations about her motives.

Kim sighed. The fact that Ms. Mataii had thought to feed them was also dangerous. So far every step of this trip seemed to be meticulously well thought out as to provide them with everything they might need, which was great for a travel agent but hardly a quality you wanted in a potential enemy. Kim shuddered to think what someone like Drakken could do if he had the common sense and foresight this woman seemed to have.

_Oh well, no sense in worrying about it 'til we know,_ Kim thought to herself. _So I'm just going to sit back and enjoy this as much as I can until we do,_ the girl concluded, determined not to let her reservations get her down.

It was only a minute later that a soft ding announced the final preparations for takeoff were taking place, along with a very faint vibration from the rear of the plane as the engines powered up. A few moments later the jet was taxiing onto the runway and, once it was centered, screaming down the tarmac with no more than a quiet rumble heard inside the cabin.

The force of takeoff was considerably noticeable compared to most planes Kim and Ron had flown on, though nothing compared to the occasional jet fighter they had gotten a ride from, and both teens could see why the pilot said it took some getting used to. The pressure quickly eased to nothing as the jet gained altitude however, and the pilot had been true to his word as another soft ding rang through the cabin about five minutes after they had started takeoff, announcing they could get up.

Ron shot out of his seat not a moment after the ding, releasing his seatbelt as if by magic, and then paused in pre-dash to the galley, turning to Kim and asking; "You want me to get you something Kim or do you wanna look back there yourself?"

"Thanks Ron. You're taking the Bueno Nacho stuff I assume?" Kim answered.

"Yep, unless you want some of it. And I figured the burgers too, since you don't usually eat those, and a pizza… and maybe some Chinese… and a sub. Maybe a bag of chips…"

"Ron, we might be fighting our way out of CI headquarters in a couple of hours; not a good idea to stuff yourself before we do, don't you think?" Kim chastised.

Ron's face fell as he heard Kim's words. "Awww… well that rots. Can I at least have a pizza too?"

Kim smiled. "Sure Ron. Can you bring me the other one and the Chinese please? And something to drink too…"

"Sure Kim, wha'd'ya want? They've got pretty much everything back there."

"Mountain Dew?" Kim asked.

"Yep, I'm on it." Ron responded, heading back to the galley.

As Ron went back to get the food, Kim got up from her seat and relocated to the seat right behind it that faced the small table. When Ron returned, he was carrying both pizza boxes like trays, on top of which he had balanced the bags of Bueno Nacho meals on one, and put the bigger bag of Chinese food on the other.

"Your meal madame," Ron joked in a cheesy French accent as he slid the box onto the table in front of Kim with a flourish before continuing back to his seat and unloading his own food. After that he sprinted back to the galley once more and returned with glasses and soda for both Kim and himself.

"Thank you Ron." Kim said with a smile as she took her glass and the big bottle of Mountain Dew from Ron.

"No prob' KP," Ron smiled back before returning to his seat, only to find that in the short time he'd been gone, Rufus had managed to drag two of the Bueno Nacho meals up onto his own seat, and was peeling one of the bags open while watching what looked like an Oh Boyz video on the plasma screen he'd set up before the plane had taken off.

"Coolio," Ron said as he looked at the setup for a moment before sitting down and setting up his own view screen as fast as he could and then plugging into the sound system. A few minutes messing around with the interface later and Ron was humming along to another Oh Boyz song as he sat back and began to go to work on his food with gusto.

At the table Kim took out the individual containers of Chinese food and set them up in front of the pizza box before starting to eat as well, looking out the big round window next to her and letting her mind drift while she leaned back into the soft chair and enjoyed her food.

Once her initial hunger was quelled, Kim took the time to check out the media center and find some music of her own to listen to before alternating between using her Kimmunicator to read today's news, and slowly but surely making far more food than anyone who looked like her had any right to disappear from in front of her.

A little over an hour later the pilot's voice broke into the sound system as well as coming over speakers in the cabin, announcing that they were only ten minutes away from CI headquarters and that they should begin preparing to land, so Kim, Ron, and Rufus put their view screens away and then the two teens began collecting the garbage from their food.

"Hey Kim," Ron said, "I've got a couple of slices of pizza left over here, you want them?"

"Ahhh… just one Ron, please and thank you." Kim answered.

After Kim took the slice, Ron offered the other one to Rufus, but the rodent declined with a shake of his head, remembering what Kim had said earlier. Looking at the slice and then the garbage, Ron decided he had room for it after all and bolted it before he finished collecting the wrappers and bags scattered between his and Rufus' seats.

Cramming everything in the pizza box, Ron turned and saw Kim standing behind him, waiting with her own pile of garbage, so he handed the box off to her at her gesture and then followed her back to the galley before continuing on to the bathroom while she put everything away. Once Ron was done in the bathroom Kim went in to use it and clean up before coming back out front and sitting down in her original seat.

Looking out the widow at the countryside, Ron could see a city way off in the distance, but there was nothing other than rural land below them. After a moment he turned to Kim and asked; "Where are we going exactly anyway? I mean, what State are we in and what city is that over there?"

"Wade said that CI's US headquarters was in Georgia, about twenty miles east of Macon." Kim responded.

"Mmmm, I see. And where are we going to land exactly?"

"Say what?"

"Well, we're definitely not headed towards Macon, if that's it way over there, so where are we landing?"

"Oh. Well, I guess they must have a private airstrip Ron. Not too surprising I guess, since they're into vehicle development after all."

"So. We're going to be miles out in the middle of nowhere, going into an isolated corporate facility we really know nothing about, with the way we got here controlled by the guys we're going to see. Y'know KP, if we didn't do what we do I'd probably be getting verrrry nervous right about now. If it were a movie, this would be about the time I'd be saying 'maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all' or something like that." Ron laughed nervously.

"Well, one, they're not a corporation, remember? And two, it's a little late for that now. Besides, I'm sure I'm just jumping at shadows Ron. Everything will work out fine; we'll have a nice little talk with Ms. Mataii, and the worst that'll happen is she'll ask us to sign some kind of endorsement contract or something." Kim reassured Ron.

"You really think so Kim?" Ron said. "Hmmm… I wonder how much we'd get for that?"

As Ron sat distracted by dreams of regaining a measure of the lost wealth of his Naco royalties, Kim thought to herself; _I hope that's all that we have to deal with here Ron, I really do._

Five minutes later there was another soft ding and Kim, Ron, and Rufus buckled up just before the jet went into a long, controlled descent that soon had them safely touching down on another airstrip. Once the plane rolled to a full stop, Kim and Ron got up, while Rufus relocated to his pocket nest in Ron's pants.

"So, what now?" Ron asked.

"I guess we should wait for the pilot before we do anything." Kim answered.

It was only a few minutes before the pilot came out of the cockpit, and he immediately looked to Kim and said, "It will just be a few more minutes for the ground crew to finish securing the plane Ms. Possible, and then you and Mr. Stoppable can disembark."

"Ok, thank you Mr. Wesker," Kim responded before turning to Ron and adding; "We'd better get ready then."

By the time Kim and Ron put their boots and jackets back on, the pilot had finished his post-flight check and returned to the small "foyer." Going over to the exit, he quickly unsecured the hatch, pushing it open and letting a cool, damp breeze into the warmer climate-controlled plane. Even though it was night here and the breeze was cool, it was much warmer than in Middleton, and both teens unzipped their jackets as they headed outside.

Kim thanked the pilot one last time before she and Ron went down the short boarding ramp. Once she was on the tarmac Kim stopped and took a moment to look at her surroundings, as did Ron, doing her best to stay out of the way as the ground crew continued to work on the plane.

Nearby were a series of aircraft hangars that looked to be three very large ones and two more smaller ones like the one the jet was next to, though it was hard to tell as only the big ones were fully lit. Off in the distance were what appeared to be twin hurricane fences running ten feet apart from one another. The outer fence was eight feet tall and topped with another foot of outward-inclined barbed wire, while the inner fence was ten feet tall and topped with tight coils of nasty looking long-blade razorwire. The double fence went on in either direction until it vanished in the darkness, and by the way it looked it gave the impression that it ran around the entire property. The last remaining landmarks were in the opposite direction of the fence; a series of well-lit, interconnected buildings that looked like an office complex, though two things stood out as unusual. To the right of the complex was a huge outbuilding that looked like a warehouse, and rising from the left-hand side of the complex was a half-sphere geodesic dome that was about a hundred feet wide.

It was from the direction of the sprawling complex that Kim and Ron could see the approach of a large, boxy black vehicle with tinted windows. The vehicle resembled a Hummer, but with subtle differences that made it simultaneously appear faster and more maneuverable than a regular Hummer as well as sturdier. Less than a minute later the vehicle pulled to a stop ten feet away from Kim and Ron, sitting with it's engine rumbling more quietly than they would have expected, while a man got out of the front passenger side door.

The man was black and ruggedly handsome in a severe sort of way, with piercing pale blue eyes, a narrow, full beard and mustache framing his mouth, and a flattop crewcut with the sides and back of his head shaved clean. His heavily muscled six-foot frame was broad shouldered, but hard, lean, and well proportioned, giving more the impression of an Olympic gymnast than a bodybuilder.

He wore what appeared to be an advanced combat outfit; a thick, formfitting one (or possibly two) piece bodysuit covered him to his wrists and neck, over the top of which was a heavy segmented vest protecting his torso, and high combat boots were tightly laced to just past his mid-calf. A broad belt connected to twin shoulder holsters formed a full weapons harness that had numerous pouches attached to it, along with a heavy automatic hanging under each of his arms. The entire outfit was dull black except for the metal snap-buckles on the front of his vest.

As he came towards them, Kim could tell by the way he moved and held himself that he was highly skilled in several "hard" styles of martial arts, and probably fought with an aggressive intensity—though she couldn't tell how well he might stand up if he were forced into a defensive position. For some reason she thought of Dash Dumond as she watched him; his manner was strongly focused, alert, and professional, but unlike Dash, he didn't seem to have that aura of smugness that had gotten under Kim's skin so quickly, and if she had to, Kim would say that this man was much more dangerous than Dash could ever be.

"Ms. Possible, Mr. Stoppable," the man said in a strong, deep voice as he came to a stop in front of Kim and Ron, "my name is Damien Frost, and I'm the head of security for Corsair International. I'd like to welcome you to our US headquarters."

"Hey hey; Mr. Frost, cool name!" Ron said with nervous cheer, sticking out his hand. "I'm Ron and this is Kim… but… I guess you already knew that, heh heh."

"Indeed Mr. Stoppable, your reputations—and your security profiles—precede you. It's truly a pleasure to meet you two." Mr. Frost responded with a surprising hint of a smile while taking Ron's hand and shaking it firmly.

"Oh really?" Kim inquired as she shook Mr. Frost's hand as well, blushing a split second later as she realized how that sounded and quickly stammering; "I meant about the security files, not that I was questioning whether you were— I mean I wasn't…"

"That's quite all right Ms. Possible, and it's my duty to protect the interests of Ms. Mataii. In that capacity I have to be aware of the details of anyone who comes into contact with her, whether they're classified as a security threat or otherwise. And while I doubt I have cause to worry about you and Mr. Stoppable, you do bring a certain degree of… shall we say, _peripheral hazard_ with your presence?"

"Say what?" Ron asked.

"Your enemies Mr. Stoppable. You and Ms. Possible have a considerable amount of them, and I have to be prepared to deal with the possibility, no matter how slim, that they might make an appearance during this or any future visits that may occur, as well as the fact that your being here may draw their attention to us outside of your actual presence." Mr. Frost responded.

"Ahhh, gotcha. Yeah, having Duff Killigan show up whorking exploding golf balls at us or something like that would probably be something you'd want to be ready for." Ron said with a grin.

"Exactly. Speaking of being ready," Mr. Frost reached into a pouch and withdrew a pair of laminated metallic cards about three by six inches in size that hung off of woven synthetic cord loops long enough they could easily be worn around someone's neck. Extending the cards to Kim and Ron, he continued; "you'll need to wear these security passes at all times while you're here. I hope you'll excuse the need, but we're currently in a heightened state of security due to certain experimental prototypes being on the property. Which is one of the reasons I had to greet you like this instead of wearing something less… intimidating." Mr. Frost finished with a slight smile.

"That's all right Mr. Frost." Kim said as she and Ron each took a card and hung them around their necks. "I hope you haven't had to go to too much extra trouble over our visit. And please, call me Kim."

"And I'm Ron." Ron added.

Mr. Frost looked slightly uncomfortable as he answered; "I would really prefer not to Ms. Possible. I'm required to deal with a great variety of people during the course of my duties, and all but a handful of them would take my addressing them or anyone else casually while doing so askance, at the very least."

"I understand Mr. Frost." Kim answered.

"_No problem_…" Ron said with a cocky grin. "Besides, it's kinda cool having someone besides Mr. Barkin calling me _Mister_ Stoppable."

"All right then, if the two of you will follow me I'll take you to Ms. Mataii right away." Mr. Frost said.

"Lead on my good man." Ron said, and both he and Kim followed Mr. Frost back to the big vehicle. Once there, Mr. Frost opened the back door and the two teens climbed into the cavernous interior and sat down on the spacious if utilitarian back seat. Mr. Frost got in the front, and as he did Kim noted the driver was dressed in the same manner he was, though with only a single shoulder holster instead of two, and he was wearing a slim earpiece communicator.

The drive to the back of the facility took less than two minutes, and passed in silence. As they neared the complex Kim observed several two-man patrols of guards armed with MP5/10 submachine guns moving around the large warehouse structure, along with three-man squads at the entrances. A small handful of single guards were spread out patrolling the actual complex as well, and appeared no less alert than the larger patrols.

After the driver pulled to a stop at one of the larger entrances to the complex, Mr. Frost said; "If you'd please follow me," before getting out of the vehicle, and Kim and Ron quickly followed him outside.

"Ms. Mataii is working late in her third floor office, this way." Mr. Frost said after they got out, heading towards the entrance, and Kim and Ron fell in step behind him.

As they approached the door Ron quietly asked Kim; "So what'd'ya think so far Kim?"

"Lotta guards, lotta guns, and these guys look really professional. I'm not too happy about that Ron. We've never really had to deal with bullets before. I'm pretty sure things get messy with automatic weapons, and they'll be a lot harder to get out of the way of than energy blasts." Kim responded.

"Yeah, but they can't blow up our cover or drop buildings on us like Duff or Shego can either; always an upside Kimbo, always an upside." Ron said reassuringly.

Kim smiled and shook her head before the two teens dropped into silence as Mr. Frost led them into the building. They passed a guard station and traveled down three corridors before getting on an elevator that took them to the third floor. Exiting the elevator, Mr. Frost turned right and took them down a short corridor that opened up into a small, stylish wood paneled lobby with two more halls running off it to the left and right and a large reception desk built into the far wall.

Waiting in front of the reception desk was a beautiful, dark-skinned Asian woman who looked a little like the actress Kelly Hu, except her slender five-foot-five frame was much more athletic and muscular. Her sleek black hair was done up in a plaited bun at the crown, with elaborate looped braids and beading hanging from it, held in place by several long pins and jade combs. Her eyes were a brilliant, clear emerald green, and if she was wearing any makeup aside from her faint golden eyeshadow, it was so subtly blended as to be unnoticeable.

She wore black, gum-soled tabi slippers and a shimmering black silk sleeveless sheath-dress with a high collar, slit to mid-thigh on the left and trimmed in gold with a gold Chinese dragon coiled on the side opposite the slit. She also had on a single-ear clip-on headset and carried a slim folder clipboard on top of which was a PDA that she was intently tapping away on with a slender stylus.

_Wow. She's like, perfect,_ Kim thought to herself as she saw the exotic woman standing there. _Or pretty darn close anyway…_

Kim almost never took note of how she looked or what she was wearing in comparison to other people while she was "on the job," but with the lack of a real mission bringing her here, she wasn't exactly "on the job," and because of that and the surroundings, suddenly Kim was acutely and uncomfortably aware of her "casual" appearance compared to this woman.

Beside Kim, Ron was making a wordless stammering sound best described as _ha-ma-na ha-ma-na ha-ma-na_, and, sensing the abrupt change in his mood and body language, Rufus stuck his head out of Ron's pocket and looked around, but failed to see anything from his low position. A moment later the frustrated rodent scampered up the back of Ron's jacket and perched on his shoulder, where he could finally see everything. Once he did the hairless mole rat grinned and chattered "ho-ho; pretty lady."

Coming to a stop, Mr. Frost stood to the side and indicated Kim and Ron as the woman looked up from her PDA at their arrival, saying; "Ms. Li, these are Ms. Mataii's guests; Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable," turning to Kim and Ron he continued; "Ms. Possible, Mr. Stoppable, this is Li Huizhong, Ms. Mataii's personal assistant."

_Oh thank god_, Kim thought with relief. _If that had been Ms. Mataii I'm not sure I could have handled this without looking like a complete idiot._

Smiling warmly with perfect white teeth, the woman glided forward and offered her hand to Kim, saying; "It is a very great pleasure and honor to meet you Ms. Possible, the exploits of you and Mr. Stoppable are most well known and appreciated."

Kim was so shocked by the other woman's voice that she had to mentally kick-start herself into taking Ms. Li's hand as she offered it. Her voice was so high pitched and squeaky it sounded like something you might hear from a little girl cartoon character, not this exotic beauty that stood before her shaking her hand gracefully.

Already a little embarrassed, the split second stall caused Kim to blush slightly as she responded; "Ummm, thank you, but it's no big really; it's what I do. And please, call me Kim Ms. Li."

"Very well, Kim." Ms. Li said with another smile before turning to Ron and shaking his hand as well.

"And you can call me Ron," Ron said before looking at Kim and adding; "hear that Kim? I've got _exploits_," with a cocky grin, causing her to snort softly in amusement.

It seemed that Ms. Li's incongruously pitched voice had considerably dampened Ron's initial infatuation, but if anything, Rufus' grin was even wider as he continued to stare at her with a dreamy-eyed expression. A few seconds after the introduction however, Rufus shook his head and seemed to snap out of it, until he turned to Ron and chirped "Hey!" sharply before smacking him in the ear with one paw.

"Ow! What the heck was that for?" Ron said sharply as he turned to Rufus, but once he saw the dirty look the rodent was giving him, along with the way Rufus shot his eyes in the direction of Ms. Li once Ron was paying attention to him, he quickly caught on.

"Oh, _oh_. Sorry. Ms. Li, this is my little buddy Rufus." Ron said as he turned back to Ms. Li and introduced Rufus to her.

"Oh yes, it is also a pleasure and honor to meet such an exceptional creature such as yourself." Ms. Li said to Rufus, before offering the naked mole rat her finger, smiling when he happily shook it vigorously with both paws.

"I need to return to my duties." Mr. Frost said as Ms. Li finished with Rufus. "I'll leave you two in Ms. Li's capable hands Ms. Possible, Mr. Stoppable." Mr. Frost nodded to each of them before he turned and headed back down the corridor towards the elevator.

"Nice meeting you Mr. Frost," Kim said as he left, and Ron added; "Yeah, see you later Mr. Frost."

"If you would follow me, I will take to you Ms. Mataii now," Ms. Li said, gaining the teens' attention once more.

Gliding out of the lobby and into the right-hand corridor with Kim and Ron following behind her, Ms. Li passed a dozen doors on either side of the hallway before coming to a large set of paneled wooden double doors at the end of the hall. Opening the left, the exotic woman gestured for the two teens to precede her.

Entering the room, Kim and Ron found themselves in the near corner of a large twenty-foot square corner office. The two far walls were heavy floor-to-ceiling glass, slightly tinted, and the two near walls and the ceiling were elaborately paneled in dark golden-brown oak, while the floor was thickly carpeted with a complex Persian rug design of black and various shades of brown. Several frosted dome lights in brass settings filled the room with a warm but very dim light.

The right-hand wall had a fifty-six inch widescreen flat-panel TV in the center of it, which was currently displaying the Stock Channel on mute. The left-hand wall had a small, stylish marble-topped drink table placed in the center of it, with several crystal decanters arranged on top of it. A huge slab of an antique claw-foot mahogany desk dominated the left side of the room, on top of which was a flat-screen monitor in the left corner, a keyboard, a phone, and dozens of haphazardly piled folders and three-ring binders of varying thickness scattered across every inch of the remaining surface area. Two pairs of high-backed padded armchairs stood about a yard in front of the desk, and each pair was placed off-center, leaving a broad four-foot gap directly in front of the desk. The final piece of furniture in the room was behind the monolithic desk; a padded, high-backed swivel chair that was currently facing the window, away from Kim and Ron, and had a charcoal colored jacket hanging from its right corner.

It was from behind this chair that the voice was coming from.

Despite having a stressed and tired edge to it, the voice rolled over Kim and Ron like a velvet fog as they moved to the center of the room. It was smooth, deep, and throaty, like smoky honey, and had a southern accent that was noticeable, but not too thick. And, apparently, the voice was none too happy either…

"Look, we've been over this already; Taragen's designs _only work in the lab_. Under real-world conditions the power module becomes unstable an' suffers catastrophic failure. _What do you not understand about that?_"

The voice paused, and Kim saw a hand rise on the right side of the chair, holding a remote interface. The thumb pressed a button on the remote and then there was a deep sigh followed by a sharply growled; "Ugh. How the _fuck_ can someone with three Doctorates be such a _complete_ fuckin' moron?"

After a brief silence the button was pressed once more and the hand dropped back out of sight while the voice continued, no less irritated but at normal volume.

"No, _enough_ already Dr. Williams! I don't _care_ how brilliant you think Taragen is; he's cost us nearly a year of time an' millions in development stubbornly refusin' to consider anythin' other than pursuin' his untenable designs. I want him _off_ your team immediately an' for you to return to workin' with the original design specs before Taragen came up with his 'brilliant' solution to the problem, or _you'll_ be in the unemployment line right alongside him, _do I make myself clear_?"

There was another short pause before the voice concluded; "I'm glad we finally understand one another Dr. Williams. I expect a full report on the restructurin' of your team by no later than the end of business Monday. Good night."

The chair tilted back considerably and both teens saw an elbow poke out from the left side of it at shoulder height, while a very long, very frustrated sigh was vented from the unseen woman. Somehow Kim was positive she was squeezing the bridge of her nose tightly between her thumb and forefinger despite not being able to see it.

Next to them, Ms. Li cleared her throat softly and said; "Your guests have arrived Ms. Mataii."

There was another sigh and the voice said; "Of _course_ they have," in a wry, bone dry tone tinged with resigned amusement. A moment later the chair straightened and swiveled to the left, revealing the woman they had traveled here to see as she stood up and turned towards them, coming around the desk with a hint of a smile while tossing the remote and a clip-on earpiece phone on top of a pile of folders.

Kim wasn't sure what she had been expecting, especially after hearing that unbelievably sultry voice, but she was fairly certain it hadn't been what she was seeing now.

Corscan Mataii was a big girl; around six-foot-two Kim would guess. She had broad shoulders and hips, with a waist that was narrow only in comparison, and if it weren't for her height, the first word Kim would have used to describe her would have been stocky. It was hard to tell if she were fat or not, since she was wearing a billowy, cream colored long-sleeved blouse with a cascade of ruffles at the throat and shorter ones at the cuffs, as well as a charcoal colored pleated skirt that fell to mid-calf, but she definitely gave the impression of being… solid, at the very least.

She had short dirty-blonde hair that was only two or three inches long on top and styled in spiky, unruly waves, while the sides were almost close-cropped and the back only slightly less so. Her eyes were a lively, gold-flecked hazel, and her lips were sharply defined and neither too full nor too thin, but her strong nose and jaw, cleft chin, and prominent cheekbones would forever relegate her to being described as "striking" or "handsome" instead of beautiful.

Her skin was smooth and a rich walnut brown, like the color of a deep tan, though it seemed to be its natural shade, and it was impossible for Kim to pin down her ethnicity, because although her features initially _seemed_ to be predominantly Nordic, the darker skin along with other subtle signs like a slight slant to her eyes suggested many other heritages as well.

As Corscan rounded the desk Kim had to clamp down on an urge to snort or giggle; despite the reserved elegance of the woman's outfit, she had on a pair of well-worn sneakers that seemed to have seen better days, and the sensibility of it sharply tickled Kim's fancy. Added to the nervous tension running through her the impulse was extremely difficult to resist, and even though she did, she could not help the broad smile that crept across her face. Thankfully the expression fit the circumstances, so Kim was spared any embarrassment from it.

"Well, it's nice to finally meet you two," Corscan said to Kim while smiling back and offering her hand. "I've been looking forward to this all week… well, at least 'til a few hours ago anyway." Corscan's handshake was smooth and firm as she continued; "Were my people able to get you some food for the trip before you took off?"

"Yes, they were, thank you very much Ms. Mataii." Kim answered while Ron chimed in with; "Absolutely! It was great."

"Good, good, I was worried they wouldn't have enough time to get that done when I had them called. I was plannin' on takin' the two of you to dinner, but as you can probably guess," Corscan gestured vaguely at the pile of folders strewn on the desk behind her, "I've had a busy an' crap-filled afternoon here—an' please, call me Corscan. Ms. Mataii sounds like a schoolmistress or somethin'…"

"Only if you call me Kim. I hope we haven't come at a bad time for you."

"No, not really Kim," Corscan answered as she turned to Ron, offering him her hand. "Only nine months of research an' about a hundred million in development down the drain. Just another day at the office…"

"Ouch! That's harsh…" Ron said as he stepped forward and shook Corscan's hand.

On Ron's shoulder, Rufus had been staring at Corscan ever since she had revealed herself, and now that he was brought closer to her, to the shock of both teens he began growling, crouched down, and arched his back almost as if he were going to attack.

"Ru-fus! Behave!" Ron said hard and low as soon as he recovered from his surprise.

"No, it's ok Ron—can I call you Ron? Sometimes animals react this way to me. Just hold still an' let him be for a minute or two, ok?" Corscan said.

"Ahhh… ok then." Ron answered uneasily, a little weirded out by Rufus' uncharacteristic behavior.

As both teens looked on, Corscan carefully moved her hand up towards Ron's shoulder, stopping about six inches away while saying; "That's it little guy, it's ok, I'm not gonna do anythin', you just relax now, y'hear?" in a soft, soothing tone.

Now Rufus had always been an almost impossibly intelligent animal, even before he'd been exposed to the projected energy wave of Project Phebus, but he knew there'd be no way in hell he could ever manage to communicate to his friends the way his instincts were screaming at him over the predatory scent this woman had, let alone the weird unnatural "vibe" she gave off, so he didn't even try. It was so strong he could barely control himself, and honestly even he didn't understand it, since everything else about Corscan's body language and tone was telling him she was friendly, not a threat.

As the uncomfortable moment stretched on, Corscan slowly, almost imperceptibly brought her hand closer and closer to Rufus while continuing to calmly talk to him, until the agitated rodent stopped growling and started to stretch out towards her in return. His eyes were narrowed and his whiskers were fanned forwards sharply as he sniffed at her fingers intently, and Kim bit her lower lip while Ron sweated as both teens thought that Rufus' posture looked an awful lot like it usually did before he sank those huge incisors of his into someone.

"There you go Rufus, that's it; we're all friends here." Corscan said softly as she slowly began reaching closer. After a few more moments, the rodent hesitantly accepted her light touch on the side of his head, just behind his ear. Corscan gently began rubbing at the base of his jaw, and Rufus' anxiety slowly but surely melted away until he sighed contentedly and began leaning into Corscan's scratching fingers, his back leg thumping into Ron's shoulder spastically.

Even though Rufus was still uneasy about the way the woman smelled and "felt", no one who could scratch him like this could be all bad, and that, coupled with the way everything else about her told him not to worry, allowed the naked mole rat to finally get control of himself. Once he did, Rufus pulled back reluctantly and stood up on Ron's shoulder, chattering "sorry, sorry" while looking abashed at his earlier behavior.

Both Kim and Ron let out relieved sighs as Rufus returned to normal. Ron's was much louder than Kim's barely noticeable one, and after it he said; "Damn Rufus, you had me worried there for a sec little buddy." Looking up at Corscan as she lowered her hand, Ron continued; "I'm really, _really_ sorry about that Ms. Mataii. I've _never_ seen Rufus act like that before."

Corscan raised an eyebrow at Ron and he ruefully stammered; "Errr, Corscan; I meant Corscan, sorry."

Smiling, Corscan said; "That's better. An' really, it's my fault. I should have thought to tell Hui to let you know this might happen with him. It's just that I'm not around animals that often, so I kinda forget about it. I guess it's just one of those days…"

Moving back a little, Corscan leaned up against her desk and asked Kim; "So, what exactly brings you two here anyway? All I really know is that you wanted to meet with me?"

"Well, Ron and I were just interested in meeting you, since you've been helping us out so much and we don't even know you. We wanted to thank you for that help too." Kim responded.

The left side of Corscan's mouth curled up in a deep, wry smile of amusement and she laughingly said; "Yeah, right; an' I'm the Queen of England."

"Excuse me?" Kim said while Ron looked on nervously.

Corscan looked Kim squarely in the eyes and continued smiling while she said; "You're here because you're worried I might be a Max Zorin or Elliot Carver, aren't you?"

Ron couldn't help but snort in amusement, but Kim looked confused and said; "I'm not sure what you're talking about; I don't know who they are."

"Oh come on KP, we rented Tomorrow Never Dies just last year; they're Bond villains," Ron broke in. "Carver was the guy that was going to start a war in order to get a worldwide media empire? Zorin was the one in A View to a Kill who was planning on flooding Silicon Valley so he could have a monopoly on computer chips?"

"Oh, ahhh…. well… ummm…" Kim hummed and hawed under Corscan's amused, open gaze while blushing a little and looking embarrassed over being found out so easily.

"It's ok, I'd probably have the same worries if I were in your place. An' I guess I should have picked someone a little more real world there. That would be who? Señor Senior Senior I think, isn't it?"

"Enh, not exactly," Ron said. "He's rich and all, but he's pretty much retired now—I mean from business, not the world domination thing, and even that's pretty much just a hobby for him. If I had to compare you to someone real world… well, actually… y'know, I don't think there _is_ anyone we've ever gone up against that would be close to what you are. And I've gotta admit you've got a pretty sweet setup if you did want to do something like that. I mean, you're rich, you have a worldwide distribution network, access to advanced vehicles, and what looks like a private army. All you'd really need to do is—"

"Ron!" Kim said sharply while Rufus slapped a paw to his forehead and dragged it down his face, moaning "Ohoy!" and shaking his head.

"Oops, sorry." Ron blushed and looked at Kim with embarrassment as he quickly clammed up.

"What _is_ it with you and super villain advice anyway?" Kim asked, still annoyed.

"I'm sorry Kim, it just comes out; I can't control it!" Ron apologized with genuine contrition.

Kim sighed and turned back to Corscan, who was still leaning against her desk, only now she had a very intent, thoughtful expression on her face. Kim's eyes widened slightly and the bottom of her stomach seemed to drop out as she thought to herself; _Oh no! No! No! No! This is _not_ happening! Not again!_

A few seconds later Corscan's face broke into a broad smile as she chuckled and laughed. Holding her palms up to Kim she said; "Sorry, sorry, but you looked so serious there I just couldn't help myself. I'm thinkin' there's a story here, but anyway, I'm the last person on the face of the earth who'll be trying to take over the world, trust me Kim."

Kim's eyes widened even further, and she stood balanced between indignation over the prank and relief that Ron hadn't created another monster with his weird habit. At last relief won out, and with it came a rush of hilarity as the tension drained away. Kim smiled wryly and shook her head with a chuckle.

"Ok, you got me," Kim said.

"So, looks like it's one of those days for both of us then; nothin' but a big waste a time all around. I suppose, since I'm your shit-storm I really should do somethin' to make it up to you," Corscan paused for a moment, then gave Kim a conspiratorial smile while raising an eyebrow invitingly. "Wanna see mine?"

"What do you mean?" Kim asked curiously.

"The project we're working on that's been giving me my headache today, you wanna see it?" Corscan responded.

"Ummm… ok. What is it anyway?"

"Now now; that would spoil the surprise." Corscan replied with a teasing smile. "Come on, walk with me."

Corscan pushed off her desk and headed for the door, and after a glance at one another Kim and Ron fell in with her as she went.

"So, tell me the story while we go…" Corscan asked.

Corscan led Kim and Ron through the corridors of the complex with the teens walking alongside her while Ms. Li followed three steps behind and to the left, working on her PDA intently. As they went, they found themselves telling Corscan the story of how a few idle comments from Ron had inspired Señor Senior Senior to try taking over the world in his spare time. Despite the fact that both Ron and Kim had their issues over the incident, they found themselves relaxed and laughing as Corscan's infectious easygoing manner affected them.

Soon they found themselves crossing an enclosed third floor walkway connecting the main complex to the warehouse structure next to it. Reaching the heavy metal door on the far side, the group stopped while Corscan quickly punched a long sequence of numbers into the keypad lock next to it. With a deep metallic "thunk" the door opened an inch or so as Corscan finished entering the sequence, and a moment later she pulled it open so the group could enter one by one.

The area beyond seemed to be a single cavernous room that must have been at least three times bigger than a football field. The door opened up onto a fifteen-foot wide metal grillwork balcony with a high railing at its edge. The balcony went around the entire length of the building, with several sets of stairs leading down to floor level at various intervals along it's sprawling length. In addition, every two hundred feet there was a remote camera mounted to the railing that was trained on the floor below.

Moving to the railing with Corscan, Kim and Ron looked down at the floor level, which appeared to be below ground level, as its surface was about thirty feet below them. Directly underneath them was what appeared to be a staging area that went about fifteen feet into the open area, and was marked off by a wall of heavy crash netting that separated it from the much larger space beyond. This wall of crash netting also continued along the length of the balcony, attached to its edge and separating the open area from the space underneath it. The crash netting was also attached to the floor so that it gently angled out into the open area, and though it was tightly secured at top and base, it had a good deal of slack in the middle of it.

The greater open area was a single length of smooth concrete that was painted with several long, curved track lanes around its outer edge, and four straight run lanes up the center. The staging area had partition walls dividing it into many separate areas that looked like offices, research labs, work areas, and parts storage rooms, but the biggest area was right below where Kim and Ron now stood; a two hundred foot long open "room" that looked like a high-tech garage and machine shop. In this open area were four "bays" that had what looked like long, strangely shaped motorcycles in the center of each of them, each vehicle designed a little differently from the others.

Looking closer, the teens saw that three of the machines were resting on some kind of supporting framework, but the fourth machine, which also had several technicians and mechanics working on it, seemed to be hanging unsupported in mid-air several feet above the framework underneath it. This appearance was confirmed a moment later when a tech swung the rear end several feet to the left just by putting his hand on it and pushing with what looked like little effort.

"Man that would be _so_ cool if it wasn't going to—hey, wait a minute! It's _not_ going to hurt us! Ok then, that _is_ one of the coolest things I've ever seen! You've got working hover-bikes?" Ron said with excitement.

"Well, I wouldn't exactly call them _workin'_." Corscan answered dryly. "More like… functional."

"The problem is the power requirement in relation to the antigrav an' propulsion units. So far we've come up with power sources that either last for about fifteen minutes before bein' drained, last for over twelve hours… an' put out enough radiation to hospitalize anyone using it for more than twenty minutes tops, an' really, really long extension cords. Any way you slice it, until we figure out a way power them efficiently, all we have are some of the most expensive toys in the world." Corscan explained.

"Awww…" Ron and Rufus both said in unison.

"Well, fifteen minutes is better than nothin' at least, an' they are really _fun_ toys…" Corscan smiled and added; "Wanna try one?"

"Really?" Ron said, his eyes widening in disbelief.

"Sure. My people are getting ready to test the calibration on the last machine to make sure they've properly reset it for the short duration cells anyway. Why not you instead of a tech that's run the course so many times its boring now?" Corscan answered.

"That totally rocks! I'd love to try out one of those things!" Ron declared.

"I don't know Ron…" Kim broke in.

"Awww come on Kim, she offered. Please?" Ron said plaintively.

"Yeah, come on Kim, I offered." Corscan said with a playful pout.

Shaking her head in disbelief over the situation, Kim said; "All right Ron, but _be careful_."

"Will do KP." Ron answered before turning back to Corscan and asking; "So ahhh, what do I just go down there or something?"

Corscan turned to Kim and asked; "Do you wanna take a ride on one too?"

Kim shook her head and answered; "No, thanks anyway. I think I'll just watch Ron for now."

"All right then," Corscan answered.

Glancing behind her Corscan said; "Hui?" and Ms. Li stepped towards Ron. Looking to Ron Corscan continued; "Hui will take you down to the main floor an' let everyone know what's going on; just follow her."

"All right Corscan, and thanks a lot! This is gonna be way cool!" Ron gushed before turning and heading off with Ms. Li.

Turning back to Kim, Corscan asked; "Do you want to watch things from up here, or would you like to go to the monitorin' room an' watch through the observation cameras?"

"I think I'll stay up here if that's ok. Ummm, I really don't want to question you or anything, but are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Don't worry Kim, there's almost no way your friend can hurt himself out there. The bike will be locked at a top speed of twenty miles an hour an' the onboard computer has a variety of failsafe programs built into it to deal with someone losin' control if they do."

"Ahhh, actually I was thinking more along the lines of Ron breaking something that I'm sure costs _way_ more than what we've already cost you so far." Kim said.

Corscan laughed and answered; "Well, I won't say they're idiot-proof, but the bikes are designed to be as easy to use as a motorcycle, more or less, so I don't really see how he could possibly break anythin' as long as he's careful."

"You don't know Ron," Kim said ruefully. "If there's a way to break it, he'll find it."

"Well, let's just call it a field test then. If he can find a way to break it, that's somethin' we need to know about, right?"

"Ok then." Kim was silent for a few moments before she continued. "Corscan, I don't want to sound ungrateful, but would you please tell me why you've been helping us?"

Corscan raised an eyebrow and smiled playfully as she answered; "What, a girl can't do somethin' nice for someone without havin' an agenda? Never would have expected such a sexist attitude from the great Kim Possible…"

Kim _knew_ Corscan was teasing her; her entire attitude and tone made it plain she was playing, but still, as much as she tried, she couldn't help blushing and turning away at the comment. She'd come here for all the right reasons, but it didn't change the fact that those reasons weren't very _nice_ ones, and Kim was having problems dealing with the way this woman had known the entire visit was about those reservations, and how she seemed more amused and playful over it than anything else.

"Sorry." Kim said, even though she didn't really know why she was apologizing.

"S'ok. Everyone can't be as enlightened as I am after all…"

Kim snorted and shook her head with an amused smile. It sounded like something Bonnie might say, except it was obviously meant entirely in fun, without even a hint of the seriousness it would have had if Bonnie had been the one saying it. Still, despite the amusement, Kim didn't miss the fact that Corscan hadn't really answered the question during the exchange, just deflected it.

Kim spent the next few minutes standing in silence with Corscan as they both watched Ms. Li lead Ron downstairs and into the staging area. Once there Ron had a short chat with a technician who looked to be explaining the controls to him while a mechanic brought over a set of protective pads and a helmet for him to wear while riding the hover-bike. A few minutes more and the techs opened up the crash netting so Ron could cautiously slide the machine out into the main area. After the netting was closed behind him, Ron got on the bike and began slowly pulling out into the big room, uncharacteristically careful as he got a feel for the controls.

As Kim and Corscan watched Ron begin to drive the floating vehicle around the area, Corscan broke the silence without preamble or looking at Kim.

"You're not buying it, are you?"

Kim knew exactly what Corscan was talking about, and for some reason, she decided to throw caution to the wind and answer Corscan with the same candor she had been showing her.

"Nope." Simple. Direct.

"Because there's no way someone does somethin' like this without a reason, an' I haven't really told you mine, right?"

"Yep."

"An' you're not goin' to leave here happy unless you get a straight answer out of me, are you?"

"Nope."

"An' you know that Ron's down there havin' the time of his life on a quarter-billion dollars worth of experimental hardware just so I can talk to you alone, right?"

"Yep."

"Well then, I've never been one to leave a girl unsatisfied, so…" Corscan smiled as she turned to look at Kim, and her eyes met the girl's with a bright intensity as she finished; "it's really simple Kim; I want to fight you."


	5. An Invitation to Violence

Note: Dialogue in foreign languages will be shown thusly- )xxxx(

* * *

Ron's echoing whoop of delight and the deep, almost musical hum of the hover-bike's propulsors went unheard by Kim as all the uneasiness and tension she previously had slammed back into her at Corscan's words. At the same time, the little itch she'd had in the back of her mind since meeting the woman finally blossomed into full-blown insight.

It was the way the big woman moved; exceptionally relaxed to the point that her movements seemed almost lazy, yet incongruously fluid and flowing for her heavy build. It was so obvious now that Kim was mentally kicking herself for not seeing it earlier; Corscan moved like _Shego_ moved, like Kim _herself_ moved… only… even more so, Kim realized with a slight thread of trepidation. And the only way you could develop that way of moving was through extensive martial arts training across multiple style types or through Olympic-level athletic training through a multitude of disciplines—or a little less of both combined, as the case may be.

Somehow Kim doubted the woman spent every waking moment training for multiple Olympic events—or had the time to, for that matter—so that left only fighting styles as the source.

Tensing, Kim said; "Excuse me?"

"Oh relax Kim," Corscan responded. "It's not like I'm going to jump you right here or anythin', an' if I was some psycho-stalker who wanted to _force_ some kind of Bloodsport confrontation with you, don't you think I would have by now? But, I really do want to fight you very, very much."

"And why exactly is that?" Kim asked, only relaxing a hair despite Corscan's reassurances.

"Because despite your age, you're one of the best fighters in the world. Because I think I can beat you, an' I want to find out if I'm right or not. Because I won't have to worry about you tryin' to kill me afterwards if I win—or _durin'_ if I start to win, as the case may be—unlike the playmates you have that fight as well as you do. Because I think I've figured out a way to make you give me your all without needin' to actually do anythin' that would get me thrown in jail or put on any international wanted lists afterwards. An' most of all, because it'll be fun as hell whether I win or not…" Corscan ended with a broad smile that revealed her straight white teeth to Kim for the first time.

The request had seemed strange and threatening to Kim at first, but the reasons… they weren't something most people could understand, but Kim wasn't most people. That need to know, that urge to take on a challenge just to see if you could do it; it was part of the reason why Kim did what she did. If she was completely honest with herself, it was really one of the biggest reasons she did what she did. She believed in doing the right thing, in helping people just because you could, but so did a lot of other people, and they didn't go out and put themselves in harm's way. But Kim did. Because she could… and because she needed to know she could. Most people wouldn't consider overcoming life-and-death struggles as something to be done for enjoyment, but that was just the way Kim was wired; she was the explorer, the mountain climber, the test pilot, always pushing the edge just because it was there and she needed to know she could overcome it—and if she could do some real good along the way then so much the better.

"Oh really?" Kim said, still not relaxing, but a bit less anxious than she had been a moment earlier. "And how exactly are you going to do that?"

"Stakes." Corscan licked her lips in anticipation. "I'm in the unique position to provide you an' Ron with somethin' that would help you out considerably; independent support."

"What do you mean?" Kim asked.

"You win, an' I'll give you full access to any kind of land, air, or sea vehicles you need, along with supplyin' you with any personal gear you need to traverse whatever terrain you encounter. Transportation to anywhere in the world, always ready an' prepared for whenever you need it, anytime day or night, with no strings attached, for as long as you want it. No more need to rely on the kindness 'a strangers or hope that your friends'll have what you need when you need it, an' no obligations to any of the organizations that could give you the same thing I can. You'd still have your full independence."

Kim's eyes widened slightly as Corscan gave her pitch, and her stance relaxed even more—not out of relief, but rather disbelief. One of the reasons she had so strongly considered joining Global Justice was the very same thing Corscan was offering her now. To be able to get around the world without imposing on the people she helped—or potentially putting them in dangerous situations as well—and to have the options available whenever she needed them would be wonderful. But, joining Global Justice would have also meant giving up her autonomy and accepting having a command structure over her; rules and regulations governing her conduct and people telling her what to do and how to do it. As of yet, Kim hadn't been willing to pay that price, no mater how good the benefits would be. But now…

"You could really do that?" Kim inquired almost breathlessly.

"Could an' would… _if_ you win." Corscan responded.

"Well, I certainly can't say I'm not interested now," Kim said, before her eyes narrowed slightly and she added; "but I notice you haven't mentioned what exactly it is _you're_ supposed to get if I lose."

"That's for me to know an' you to try your best to avoid findin' out Kim." Corscan said with a wicked smile and an amused gleam in her eyes. "After all, in a _real_ life-an'-death battle, you always know what you're fightin' _for_, but you can never be quite sure of what you might _lose_, now can you? An' I want you fightin' me as close as you can possibly get to as hard as you would if lives _were_ on the line."

"Heh. Well, there's no way I'd even _consider_ agreeing to this if you don't tell me what I'm going to have to do if I lose." Kim answered. Despite the strange turn of events, Kim couldn't help but respond to how Corscan obviously wanted this to happen in such a way that Kim would be coming at her with everything she had. It was actually kind of flattering in a weird sort of way.

"But you _are_ interested now, aren't you? An' not just because of what you might win anymore." Corscan… purred.

Kim blushed a little but met Corscan's gaze squarely and answered; "Maybe. But I still won't agree to this without more."

"Alright, alright, I suppose I could be persuaded to give you a _little_ peace of mind. Not enough to lose your edge, but a little. How 'bout we establish some… guidelines? Over what you could live with if you lose."

"Guidelines? Like what?" Kim asked curiously.

"Well, let's see. How 'bout we say if you lose, you have to do somethin' for me. That way you know it won't involve anyone but you, an' it won't cost you anythin' material. It has to be somethin' that you should be able to do in about a day, an' although it might be somethin' utterly humiliatin', embarrassin', or degradin', it can't be anythin' guaranteed to injure you or sure to get you killed—although it _might_ be somethin' that anybody _normal_ would consider a death sentence." Corscan said, smiling with the offhand compliment at the end.

"Heh, kinda like the servant auctions we have at Middleton High every year to raise money for after school programs. It's a little weird to be fighting each other for something like that, but I think I could live with it. _But_, I'm not going to agree to do anything illegal either, or hurt anyone who doesn't deserve it, so you'll have to live with that in return."

"Oh?" Corscan raised an eyebrow. "Define 'illegal'."

"Ummm, against the law? Like, I'm not going to rob Fort Knox for you for instance, or beat up someone who isn't doing something wrong just because you told me to." Kim answered.

"How do we decide what's against the law? If I wanted you to retrieve a treasure from a sunken ship right off the coast, there are laws against that depending on the ship, the treasure, an' the State, but if it was out past the three-mile limit there are none. Same goes for tomb raidin' in certain countries; some'll getcha killed if they catch you, others don't care at all. Pit fightin' is legal in a lot of third an' second world countries, sometimes it's even considered an honorable profession; got a problem with that too?"

"So you're going to fight me in order to make me fight a bunch of other people in a tournament? That seems ferociously illogical since I have to lose a fight in order for you to make me do it." Kim said with a bemused smile.

"Maybe. I'm a woman; I get to be contrary." Corscan replied in a tone that gave Kim the image of the other woman sticking her tongue out at her.

"Alright fine," Kim laughed. "I won't do anything that's against the law wherever I am when I'm doing it, and I won't hurt anyone unless they're doing something wrong or they… errr… want me to hurt them, I guess… sort of. You know what I mean." Kim concluded.

Corscan smiled back at Kim and said; "Alright, I can live with those additions. Are there any other bases you want to cover, or are we good on the guidelines of your obligation if you lose now?"

"Other than you just telling me what you're going to want me to do, no, I think that's everything." Kim answered.

"You're sure?" Corscan paused, one eyebrow raised inquisitively, and Kim nodded. "Then we've got terms on the stakes. Now for the fight itself, if you agree to it, I want you fightin' me with the very best you can give, just like I said. Full contact, no holds barred. To that end I'll sign a waiver absolvin' you of any liability for the injuries I suffer durin' the fight. You do _whatever_ it takes to put me down if that's what you have to; I won't accept _anythin'_ less, d' ya' understand? I want you to fight me just as if I were Shego or Lord Monty Fisk or some robot killin' machine on a rampage, got it?"

"Well, I don't know about that," Kim said hesitantly. "I'm not going to hurt you on purpose or anything."

"Oh, thank you so much for that vote of confidence Kim." Corscan said with dry sarcasm. "Unless I've totally misjudged my fightin' ability compared to yours, you're pretty much gonna _have_ to hurt me in order to win—at least a little, if not a lot. An' unless you agree to that, there's no point in goin' any further. I want _everythin'_ you have Kim; nothin' else will do."

Corscan sighed and continued in a softer, less intense but equally imploring tone.

"Look Kim, I've broken pretty much every bone in my body more times than I can count, I have a very high pain threshold, I can get myself the best medical care in the world, an' I _want_ you to hurt me—well, I don't _want_ you to hurt me, but you know what I mean. I need it to be as real as it can be. Considerin' what I'm offerin' to do for you if you win, I think you owe me that much in return, don't you?"

Corscan paused for a moment, and then with a wicked grin and a gleam in her eye added; "An' believe me Kim, I'll make you pay through the nose if you lose; count on it."

Kim snorted and shook her head before answering; "Well thank _you_ so much for _your_ vote of confidence as well. You ever think I might be able to beat you without really hurting you? And how exactly are we going to figure out who wins this thing anyway? I'm not too keen on the idea of us beating each other to a bloody pulp either."

"Heh, that's the best part; the hook I know will bring you in. _You_ will." Corscan said with a sly smile.

"Hunh?"

"I don't want to win or lose based on a lucky break or because one of us has her timin' off for a few seconds. I don't want to be flippin' a coin here, I want to know who's the _best fighter_, not just the luckiest at any given moment. So we'll go at it 'til _you_ admit that I'm better than you or 'til you put me down for good—or 'til I admit you're better than me I suppose, but you'll _really_ have to make me sweat blood for that to happen. It's about skill an' ability, an' I've given you all the cards; a massive payout compared to your side of the bet, total freedom to come at me with way more than I can come back at you with, an' _you_ get to decide if you've lost or not. The only thing I want in return is your promise that you _will_ give it everythin' you've got if that's what you need to do to take me down."

"Heh. Has anyone ever told you you're a strange woman Corscan?" Kim asked.

"This comin' from a teenage cheerleader who's engaged in mortal combat with a guy who has monkey hands and feet or a woman that can toss around bolts of green death?"

"Ooooh; got me again." Kim said with a smile.

"Glass houses Kim, glass houses. So, have you decided, or do you want some time to think on it?"

"I'd like to talk with my friends first, and maybe sleep on it too." Kim answered.

"All right Kim, I can wait. At least you didn't say no." Corscan concluded with a smile.

"That I did not." Kim smiled back.

"So you wanna take a ride now?" Corscan asked.

"No, I'm good." Kim answered, turning back to watch Ron as he sped around the big open area with enthusiasm.

Kim stood considering what Corscan wanted and what was at stake if she accepted. She got the uneasy feeling that Corscan really would find a way to make her "pay through the nose" if she lost, but… that was hardly anything compared to what she'd lose in a _real_ fight to one of her enemies, and the risk was definitely worth it for what she could win in return.

_Oh who am I kidding; now I want to do this for the same darn reasons she wants to_, Kim thought, sighing. _The fact that I get something so spankin' if I win is just icing on the cake._

Kim tried to surreptitiously observe Corscan as the woman stood leaning up against the railing watching Ron with her, trying to size her up as well as she could. The big woman would obviously be stronger than her, but that didn't mean much, since Monkey Fist was way stronger than he should be for his size, and Shego could do that thing with her hands where she hit so hard she could punch through cinderblock, and she'd survived them time and time again, not to mention the walking hulks Professor Dementor used for henchmen. Corscan would have significantly longer reach than her however, and that wasn't to be ignored. As well, since Kim was positive the other woman was as well trained as her, she would most likely be unable to exploit style weaknesses while she fought her, unlike most opponents she faced.

On the other hand, Kim would be faster than her, and more agile and mobile. Her innate skill coupled with her training would allow her to compensate for Corscan's supposed resilience with the precision and power of her strikes. And if she had to, she could play keep-away and hit-and-run until she wore the bigger woman out and could take her down once she ran out of steam.

All in all, Kim was warming to the challenge she saw before her quite a bit now. It would be a real test of her abilities, and just like Corscan, she would actually be able to relax and enjoy the fight instead of worrying she was going to wake up dead after it was over if she lost. But, there was still one thing that bothered her…

"Corscan…"

"Mmmm?" Corscan hummed inquisitively.

"If we do this… and I'm not saying I am…"

"Yes?"

Kim paused for several moments before coming to a final decision in her head—as crazy as it was, she just couldn't resist—and then, after taking a deep breath, continued resolutely.

"I'm going to want to sign one of those waivers too."

"Oh really?" At Corscan's query Kim turned, and she saw that the big woman was looking at her with a slight smile of amusement on her face and one eyebrow raised in interest.

"Yep."

"An' why's that?"

"Because there's really no point in me doing this if I'm not facing you at your best either." Kim said, her lips twisting into a smile that was half in amusement, half in disbelief that she'd decided this.

"Hmp; a girl after my own heart." Corscan said, her smile deepening.

"Guess so."

"All right then. Just one problem." Corscan said.

"What's that?" Kim asked.

"You're too young to sign somethin' like that on your own. Either you'll have to get your parents to sign it, or you'll just have to trust me to beat the livin' hell out of you instead of holdin' back." Corscan concluded with amusement.

Kim rip-snorted and answered; "Yeah. Somehow I don't think that'll be a problem with you."

"Whatever you want Kim, whatever you want…" Corscan responded, soft and smooth, "Just as long as I get what I want from you in return."

Kim smiled and went back to watching Ron, as did Corscan beside her, and the two of them passed the time in silence, savoring the anticipation of the coming challenge in a strange mutual kinship.

About ten minutes later Ron was finishing up his ride on the hover-bike as its power cell finally started to run down, and Corscan turned to Kim and said; "Looks like he's almost done. Not much else here to do I'm afraid, so I guess you'll be goin' now." Corscan sighed and then continued. "An' I really should finish up my work tonight instead of putting it off. Come on, it'll be easier to leave downstairs than headin' back through the main complex."

"Ok," Kim responded, following Corscan downstairs.

By the time they finally entered the central area below, Ron was taking off the last of his protective pads while the techs finished locking the hover-bike down on the support frame in its bay so they could begin removing the now near-exhausted power cell from it.

"Hey Kim, you missed out here! You _really_ should have tried one of these things; they totally rock hardcore!" Ron said with an enthusiastic grin, while Rufus added his own thumbs-up confirmation and "Totally" from Ron's shoulder.

"That good eh?" Kim said with a smile.

"Absolutely! If it weren't for the fact that it would take Naco royalties to get one, I'd so totally be walking out of here with one of these babies, fifteen minute run time or not." Ron turned to Corscan and continued; "Thanks a lot for letting us try one of these, it was a blast."

"No problem Ron. An' who knows, maybe it's not as out of reach as you think." Corscan answered mysteriously, shooting a knowing glance at Kim as she did so.

Ron missed the exchange, and just scratched his head and looked at an equally confused Rufus while Corscan gestured to Ms. Li. When the Asian woman came up to her, Corscan murmured softly to her and the other woman nodded before handing her a business card from her clipboard, moving back a short distance, and making a call on her headset.

Turning back to Kim and Ron, Corscan said; "Well, it's been fun meetin' the two of you, but if you want to get home at a reasonable hour I guess it's time to go. Sorry I wasn't able to make this trip a little more interestin' for y'all, but y'know how things are sometimes."

"Oh no problem Corscan," Ron said. "It was plenty fun—especially considering we didn't get shot at."

"Well, there is that." Corscan answered with a smile before heading towards a partitioned "hallway" on the far side of the central area. Following behind her, Kim and Ron quickly found themselves climbing a set of short stairs that led to another heavy security door in the outer wall of the huge building. After yet another long string of numbers was punched into the keypad next to the door, Corscan let the two teens out into the cool night air while the pair of guards that were stationed to either side of the door looked on. Just past them, the Hummer-like vehicle that had brought Kim and Ron from the plane was pulling up—or one just like it, since the teens weren't sure it was the same one.

Standing in the doorway, Corscan addressed the trio one last time; "Have a safe trip home, an' I hope to see y'all again sometime." Turning to Kim specifically, Corscan held the business card she had gotten from Ms. Li out towards the girl and smiled; "An' I _really_ hope to see you again soon. Call me…"

"I will Corscan, one way or another." Kim answered, taking the card from Corscan and putting it in her coat pocket.

"Bye-bye then, an' have a good night." Corscan said to the trio with a wave before closing the door with a heavy "thunk" as the security locks engaged on it.

"Good night Corscan." Kim said as the door was closing.

Turning to Ron, Kim saw that he was staring at her with a strange look and one eyebrow raised. "What?" Kim asked.

"Thinking of playing for the other team are we?" Ron answered wryly with a soft snort of amusement.

"Hunh? What the heck are you talking about Ron?" Kim asked as she started towards the vehicle that was waiting for them.

"Oh _come on_; she was _so_ into you there!" Ron answered.

"Ewww! _Ron!_ _How the hell did you get that?_" Kim practically shrieked.

"Ahhh, I'm a teenage guy Kim; I could get that from watching you and Bonnie argue," Ron answered offhandedly before realizing what he'd said. Quickly turning to a now nearly irate Kim he raised his palms to her while Rufus squeaked and bolted for Ron's pants' pocket. As he did so Ron rapidly said; "Not that that's what's going on here! I'm just saying if it wasn't that then what the heck was all that 'call me' stuff about?"

"Well if you _must_ know," Kim said in a very controlled, very calm voice from between her tightly clenched teeth, "there's something Corscan wants me to do for her, and I told her I wanted to think about it first."

Seeing that Kim wasn't going to hurt him or anything, Ron continued in a slightly less panicked voice; "Ok, ok, so I was just being a guy there, sorry. So what did she want then?"

Kim sighed as her irritation drained away and in a more normal tone she said; "I'll tell you on the plane Ron. I want Wade to hear this too, and it'll be easier to tell both of you at once."

"Ok Kim." Ron said, more relieved to have dodged a bullet than curious.

Fifteen minutes later Kim and Ron were in the air as the Excalibur jet leveled off when it reached its cruising altitude, and the soft ding announced to the two teens that they could move around the cabin freely. Kim unbuckled her seatbelt and stood almost immediately, but still Ron beat her to her feet by a good measure.

"Sorry Kim, I'll be right with you, just gotta use the can first." Ron said as he headed towards the back of the plane.

"Ok Ron, I'll get a hold of Wade while you do."

" 'K"

While Ron vanished into the galley, Kim moved back to the central section of the cabin and sat down at the table, digging out her Kimmunicator and setting it down in front of her. Wiggling around and tugging at her coat in an attempt to get comfortable, Kim finally sighed and pulled it off completely, flipping it over the back of the seat to land on the one behind her. Picking up the Kimmunicator once more, Kim triggered the direct line to Wade.

"Hey Kim, sorry it took so long; I was in the bathroom. What's up?" Wade said as the view screen sprang to life almost a minute later.

"Well, it looks like CI and Corscan check out as nothing we have to worry about for one." Kim answered.

"Well that's good. But there's more I assume?"

"Yeah, you could say that, but I want to wait 'til Ron gets back so I can tell the both of you at the same time." Kim said.

"Gets back? Aren't you on a plane right now? Where is he?" Wade asked with confusion.

"Well he _was_ in the bathroom," Kim said testily as she heard what sounded like cabinets being opened in the galley. "_Ron!_ Get out here already!"

"Yeah just a minute Kim, I'm getting some chips and pop. You want anything?" Ron shouted back.

Kim rolled her eyes while Wade chuckled.

"Any Mountain Dew left?" Kim asked.

"Yeah. That it?" Ron responded.

"Yes." Kim answered.

"Ok." Ron concluded before coming out into the main cabin about a minute later, two bottles of pop in one arm and a value-pack sized bag of bacon barbecue chips in the other.

Ron plopped down in the seat opposite Kim and slid the bottle of Mountain Dew over to her before cracking the seal on his own Coke bottle and ripping open the bag of chips, only narrowly avoiding a complete spill of its contents as he did so. Ron carefully put what was left of the bag on the table between Kim and himself and sighed as its contents settled across the spread foil.

"Phew, that was close. So, what's the dealie Kimbo? What did Corscan ask you to do?" Ron asked.

"Hunh?" came from Wade where the Kimmunicator was propped up against the cabin wall, where Kim had put it so that both she and Ron would be able to see his image on the screen.

Since Kim was opening her Mountain Dew and taking a drink, Ron answered Wade instead of her. "When we were saying goodbye to Corscan she said she hoped Kim would call her soon, and when I asked Kim about it she told me that Corscan wanted her to do something, but she wanted to talk to the both of us about it, and now that you're here," Ron turned back to Kim, "what's up KP?"

Swallowing, Kim began telling Ron and Wade what Corscan had wanted and what she had offered in return. After a few minutes and a few questions from both her friends to clarify a few points, they knew as much as she did.

"Wow, that's a pretty impressive offer Kim." Wade said. "As far as I can tell, CI has done work for Global Justice, so Corscan just might be able to set you up with one of those hypersonic hover-jets their top operatives have access to. That should cut down on your travel times by," Wade paused and looked up at his ceiling for about half a second before continuing; "about seventy three percent, more or less, depending on where you're going."

"Oh it's better than that Wade!" Ron said enthusiastically, and went on to tell the young prodigy about the ride he'd taken on the prototype hover-bike.

After a few minutes of watching boys being boys talking about how cool the experience had been, Kim finally broke in on their conversation. "Ahhh; guys?" Ron and Wade turned to look at her. "Remember me? The one that has to fight her and win in order to get all these cool toys you're taking about?"

"Ah, yeah, so?" Ron asked, lost.

"So what do you think about that?" Kim asked in a frustrated tone.

"Well, do you wanna do it?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, I think I do." _Though not for the reasons you probably think I do_, Kim finished in her head.

"So do it." Wade said before Ron could. "I mean come on Kim, it's not like you don't risk a lot worse on your missions."

"Yeah KP," Ron said. "I mean, it's not like I want to see you get hurt or anything, but this'll be a heck of a lot safer than the other crazy stuff we do every week, and if you wanna do it you should. Besides, it's not like she can beat you." Ron paused for a second, then added; "can she?"

Kim sighed and leaned back in her chair.

"I don't think so Ron. I mean, from what I can tell she'll be really good, and it won't be a matter of just winning, but actually being better than her, so it'll be really hard—probably as hard as fighting Shego or Monkey Fist, just in a different way—but I'm sure I can take her."

"Well, there you go." Ron said simply.

"Yeah Kim, if you think you can take her and you want to do it, why wouldn't you?" Wade asked.

"Well, I mean, I _want_ to do it, but don't you think it might be a little like using my abilities to cash in? It feels kinda weird to be fighting someone with something so… _material_ on the line." Kim finally voiced her final reservation to her friends, the only thing that had kept her from accepting Corscan's offer on the spot instead of thinking about it further.

"Oh for the love a'!" Ron said in an exasperated tone. "Come on KP, it's not like you don't expect Mike Tyson to step into the ring without getting something out of it! You're not rescuing anyone here or stopping some crackpot from taking over the world, it's just a fight that has a prize if you win. You fought pretty hard against Bonnie trying to get that Spirit Stick at cheer camp last year, or the other teams at the regional cheer offs last fall; you enter competitions all the time, this one just has a bigger prize if you win is all."

"Yeah Kim," Wade added. "I mean, you _are_ planning on getting a job eventually, right?"

"Ummm, yeah. I can't live with my parents for the rest of my life Wade. Why?" Kim answered.

"Well, are you going to get another job at Bueno Nacho so you'll be doing something anyone could do, or will you be going to College, getting an education, and doing something that'll probably be high-paid like being a doctor or a scientist or something? Or maybe going to work for Global Justice? Any way you look at it Kim, unless you're gonna take a dead-end job on purpose just to be 'fair', you're going to end up getting paid for your abilities anyway. It's not like it's a crime to be good at something and actually want to get the compensation your skill deserves. I mean, I make the companies that come to me for programming assistance on something pay a _lot_ for my skills, because they came to me and because I know I'm one of the best programmers in the world. It's only fair."

"Humph. Well, when you put it that way…" Kim said ruefully.

"So you're goin' for it then?" Ron asked.

"I guess so. I'll give Corscan a call when I get back home and set up the details with her. I get the feeling she'll welcome a distraction a few hours from now." Kim answered with a grin, thinking of how the woman sounded when talking about the work she had left to do.

"Well, if you guys are done, you wanna do something then?" Wade asked.

"Like what Wade?" Ron asked back.

"Well, I finally finished programming all the code I needed to create holo-projected versions of a lot of collectable card games like Yu-Gi-Oh and Magic the Gathering, along with a few of the simpler PC and console strategy games that have been around for a while now. If you guys can help me test it out, the next thing I'm going to try is doing it with some of the better fighting games out there."

"Sure Wade, I'm up for a good Duel." Ron said.

"You play Yu-Gi-Oh?" Wade asked in disbelief.

"Nope. But I have watched nearly every episode of the cartoon show. Doesn't look that hard…" Ron answered with a cocky grin.

"Heh… we'll see Ron, we'll see." Wade responded. "You want in on this Kim?"

"As I have _no_ idea what the two of you are taking about, I think I'll pass Wade, thanks just the same." Kim answered. "I'll just watch some TV or a movie up front to give you guys some space."

"Ok Kim, have fun" Wade and Ron said together before starting to talk about their game in what sounded to Kim like a completely different language, even though it _seemed_ to still be English.

With a smile and a soft snort Kim answered; "You too." to her oblivious friends as she got up and headed into the galley, getting herself a bag of plain chips to snack on before returning to her original front seat, settling in to see what she could find on the plane's entertainment system to pass the time on the flight.

* * *

A short time earlier in Corscan Mataii's third floor office, the heavyset woman stood looking out the window in an almost military "at ease" stance, with her hands in fists and tucked tightly to the small of her back. When the Excalibur jet took off from the private airstrip behind the complex, carrying Kim Possible and her friends back to Middleton, Corscan smiled softly in the dim light as she watched the plane climb into the sky, her keen eyes piercing the night's darkness with ease. Finally meeting Kim in person after all these years had been perfect; the girl was everything she had hoped for, and more, oh, so very much more.

"Are you sure this is a wise course of action Ms. Mataii?" Damien Frost asked from where he stood on the far side of Corscan's heavy desk, next to Ms. Li.

Corscan knew exactly what Damien meant. She'd gone way off-book with her offer to Kim, but she had ever been a creature of instinct and impulse, even after all these years, and when she saw how Kim reacted to her, she couldn't resist the course of action she had initiated.

"Maybe not, but it's done. What, worried I'll lose Frost?" Corscan answered with amusement.

"Of course not Ms. Mataii, but… the girl is good. _Very_ good. It's possible she might be so good as to reveal your abilities. I believe at the very least she would take that discovery… badly, given the nature of the competition." Damien answered.

"No chance of that Frost. I'll be suppressin' my abilities when I fight her. I won't cheat her out of as much of a victory as she can achieve against me by usin' them."

"But," Damien said sharply before stopping and continuing in a calmer, more careful tone. "If you face her as a normal woman, then she might…" Damien trailed off, unable to bring himself to even suggest what now worried him.

"Win? Or even kill me? No one can stand against )_The Way_( who does not also know )_The Way_( Frost; you should know that by now. Even Kim Possible, as wonderful an' amazin' as she's turned out to be, can't escape that truth." Corscan answered.

"Forgive me Ms. Mataii, I should not have questioned you." Damien said, contrition vibrating strongly in his tone as he apologized for doubting the woman that he had spent his entire adult life sworn to protect and serve; body, mind, heart, and soul.

"There's nothin' to forgive darlin', you were only doin' your job after all…" Corscan said softly, refusing to accept the sin her most dedicated warrior and bodyguard saw himself as committing.

"Thank you Ms. Mataii." Damien said with gratitude.

Turning, Corscan moved away from the window and looked at the remaining work sprawled across her desk. Sighing in disgust, she looked up to Ms. Li and said; "I can't deal with this bullshit anymore Hui, take care of the rest of this mess for me."

"As you wish Corscan." Ms. Li responded, moving towards the other side of the desk and settling into the big armchair before going to work.

"I'm goin' to my quarters to meditate for awhile. Once you're done here attend me there Hui." Corscan said.

"Yes Corscan, I'll come as soon as I am able." Ms. Li answered.

"Unless there's an emergency I don't want to be disturbed Frost." Corscan said as she passed Damien on her way out of the office.

"As you wish Ms. Mataii." Damien answered.

A moment later Corscan left the two alone in the office, and a short time later Damien nodded to Ms. Li and left as well, returning to his duties and leaving the woman alone to complete her work in relative silence.


	6. Pregame Show

Kim settled onto the Excalibur jet's couch and did her best to relax as she took her second flight to CI headquarters in almost as many days. She hadn't really been all that surprised when she'd called Corscan last Friday night to arrange the details of their match and the woman had asked her what she was doing on Monday, assuming that wasn't too soon for her. Of course it hadn't been; it wasn't like she needed to train for it or anything, and a weekend was more than enough time to work out any kinks she might have had anyway.

The biggest problem would have been if any serious trouble had come up between then and now, but fortunately it had been a slow weekend, and she'd only needed to spend a half-day on Saturday rescuing a group of mountain climbers in the Andes and a few hours on Sunday helping her mom out at the hospital when one of the Sunshine Spreaders had flaked on her and left her shorthanded. So she'd had more than enough time to hit the gym each day and keep up to speed.

Ron had wanted to come along with Kim for moral support, but Kim had gotten the impression that Corscan expected her to come alone. Before she could call Corscan and ask about it, the matter was taken out of her hands as Ron seriously tweaked Mr. Barkin at lunchtime with a minor disaster of clumsiness that had spun out of control and escalated into a full-scale food fight in the cafeteria, earning him a week of level three detention as well as no mercy from the gruff substitute teacher in his afternoon history class—not that Mr. Barkin was particularly merciful to begin with. Ron's less-than-stellar effort on the weekend's homework had prompted Mr. Barkin to assign him nearly a week's worth of extra work that he wanted back by Wednesday, so between that and the detention, Ron's activities were seriously curbed for the next two days unless the world was at risk.

After saying goodbye to Ron just after final period let out, Kim had changed into her mission clothes in the bathroom, having decided that since she did most of her real fighting in them, it only made sense to wear them for this as well, despite the possible drawbacks the outfit might have over something else like gym clothes for instance—in this case, her familiarity and comfort were the more important factors. Then she'd headed out front, where she was picked up by Raoul once again, and had yet another opportunity to tweak Bonnie with a little wave and a smile as she got into the Rolls Royce Phantom while the girl was still waiting for her bus to show up.

So now Kim was alone on a plane taking her to a fight… well, not exactly for her life, but pretty close to it in intensity anyway, if everything went as planned, and she was finding it hard to stay calm without anything to distract her. She couldn't risk eating too much, so that was out, and even though the jet's cabin was spacious for a jet, it was still too small to do anything really physical in, so Kim couldn't easily burn off any nervous energy either. In the end she finally settled for a little of both, getting some food from the galley and putting it on the small table so she could snack on it as she did low intensity in-place arm strike katas while listening to music over the cabin's sound system. It wasn't as much as she would have liked, but it was sufficient to keep her just busy enough that the soft ding announcing the jet was preparing to land soon came as a surprise to her when it finally sounded.

Quickly cleaning up the remains of her meal, Kim put the garbage away, went to the bathroom, and then took her seat, buckling up with only a little time to spare as the pilot's voice announced they would be landing in just a minute at almost the same time she did so. A few minutes later Kim was getting off the plane and, after a short wait, being driven up to the main compound in one of the Hummer-like vehicles. This time the driver took her to a smaller entrance that was more to the left side of the sprawling complex instead of the one she and Ron had used last time, and as they pulled up, the man handed her a security pass and told her that Ms. Li should be waiting for her inside.

Putting the pass on, Kim got out of the vehicle and headed up the walkway, and as she got closer to the building she saw Ms. Li through the doors, waiting by a security desk in the small lobby. Corscan's personal assistant still carried her clipboard folder and PDA, and she still wore a single-ear headset phone and her tabi slippers, but today she had on a more conservative three-piece black silk pantsuit with a mauve shirt and gold buttons, and her hair was loose, falling past her waist and held back with a tortoiseshell zigzag hair band inlaid with gold and white jade.

Smiling as Kim entered the lobby, Ms. Li glided towards her and said; "Hello Kim, I trust you had a good flight?"

"Yes Ms. Li, I did, thank you very much." Kim answered.

"Good, good. If you would follow me, I will take you to Ms. Mataii." Ms. Li said before turning and heading deeper into the building. As Kim followed Ms. Li through the complex, the Asian woman spoke once more. "If you do not mind my saying so Kim, we here at CI should be very cross with you."

"What do you mean?" Kim asked, confused.

"Because of you Ms. Mataii has been very remiss in her duties." Ms. Li said, turning to Kim with a smile that took the seriousness from her words. "Anticipation of your coming confrontation this evening has kept her most distracted, and little else has been able to hold her interest since the two of you spoke Friday evening."

"Well, I can't really say that I'm sorry to have distracted her. After all, it was hardly my idea to do this, and it's not exactly as if I haven't been thinking about it a lot over the weekend either." Kim responded with a smile of her own.

"Oh, I am just kidding you. It is actually quite nice to see Ms. Mataii occupied with something joyful for a change. There have been far too few instances of that as of late." Ms. Li concluded wistfully.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Kim said. "Have you really been having that much trouble with your project?"

"Ah, yes, there is the trouble with that as well, but no, I was speaking of other things that weigh heavily on Ms. Mataii. She is a Lady of great responsibility, and as of late, it seems those responsibilities are always most dire and pressing, and have taken to arising in much greater number and frequency than they once did."

Ms. Li shook her head as if to throw off the dark mood that had taken her and smiled at Kim once more.

"But please, do not dwell on what I have said. This night should be a time of enjoyment and spirited competition, not one in which such things should be allowed to intrude."

"Alright." Kim said, not entirely sure what Ms. Li had meant by her enigmatic statements, but more than willing to set them aside in favor of having fun with the upcoming fight.

A few minutes later Ms. Li came to a stop before a large set of sliding double doors that appeared to be in a more isolated area of the complex, as they were the first doors Kim had seen in the last few turns of about a hundred yards of corridor, more or less. Moving to a keypad intercom next to the door, Ms. Li simply hit one of the buttons on it and the doors slid aside with a barely discernable hiss. Ms. Li gestured to Kim to enter, and then followed behind as Kim did so.

The first thing Kim noticed as she entered the room beyond the door was that she was inside the half-sphere geodesic dome she had seen on the left-hand side of the complex. Over a dozen small banks of strong but warm yellow lights spread out across the inner framework of the dome lit the entire area brightly, and brought to mind firelight or candlelight rather than sunlight. The outer wall of the room was ten feet high before the dome began, and was paneled in the same style of light and dark golden-brown oak that Corscan's office had been done in. The center of the huge room was a sixty-foot wide dark blue circle formed by what looked like interconnected tumbling mats; the thin, super dense kind that barely had any give to them. The floor of the twenty-foot wide outer edge of the room was polished hardwood, and for the most part it was an open area as well.

There was a forty-foot long space to Kim's immediate right that was set up as a gym, complete with racks of free weight dumbbells and barbells of various sizes and shapes, several professional level weightlifting machines, and an assortment of cardio training machines. It even had eight-foot tall wall mirrors backing the cardio and free weight areas.

Past the gym area were a series of smaller rooms that projected about fifteen feet into the main room and ran for nearly half the curving length of the entire room. First there was a thirty-foot long section with a beautifully inlaid wooden door right at either end of it, then a twenty-foot wide open area between that section and the next that was an office set up looking out into the main room on a huge Persian rug, then a fifteen-foot wide room that had a broad carved archway leading into it and looked like a thickly carpeted living room, then another fifteen-foot wide open section that seemed to be a dining room, followed by a last fifteen-foot wide room that had no entrance Kim could see from where she was standing.

The remaining area to the left of Kim was divided unevenly into two sections. The larger of the two sections was to Kim's immediate left, and held what was essentially a dojo, complete with an open area covered in tatami mats, a pair of beautifully burnished hardwood sparring dummies, what looked to be a hundred and fifty pound heavy bag that was suspended from a thick chain hanging from the mouth of a ten-foot long snarling Chinese dragon, carved from a solid two-foot thick log of hardwood that projected into the area from the upper wall like the bowsprit of a ship, a speed bag and double end bag, a black iron sand cauldron resting on a heavy stone base so that it could be heated, and a seven-foot tall standing log of smoothly polished pale white ironwood that was almost as thick as the dragon. The smaller section was past the dojo, and held several display cases and long racks of Asian melee and throwing weapons that all looked to be more functional than decorative.

Kim only took in the room as a general impression however, as her attention was immediately and fully captured by the second, and what she considered much more prominent, feature of the area: Corscan herself.

The big woman was wearing a matched pair of heavy cotton shorts and top that were grey with charcoal trim, and clung snugly to her like a second skin. The shorts covered her from waist to just above mid-thigh, while the top was one of those wide strap outerwear sports bras that ended right at the edge of her ribcage. Aside from that, the only other thing she had on were traditional Muay Thai hand and foot wrappings, the winding heavy cloth strips covering her forearms and hands from elbow to fingers, binding her shins from just below the knee to ankle, and covering the arch of each foot. However, it wasn't what Corscan was wearing that held Kim's attention, but rather what the outfit revealed of the woman.

The most immediate thing Kim noticed was that every inch of Corscan's previously unexposed skin was covered in uneven black lines that resembled nothing less than what a tiger's stripe pattern would look like on a human being, the inky tattoos blending smoothly with the woman's soft brown coloring instead of standing out sharply against it. The second thing Kim noticed almost as quickly was that Corscan… rippled, as she stood before the ironwood log throwing strikes into it. There was no other way to describe how Kim could clearly see each one of Corscan's muscles bunching and releasing under her skin as she moved—it must have been a suggestion brought on by the stripes, but all Kim could think of was a sleek jungle cat as she watched the big woman practice.

And big was certainly an appropriate word to describe her with too, because Kim could now clearly see that none of Corscan's bulk was in any way fat; it was solid muscle. Her powerful frame was all hard curves and bulges, with each muscle group obvious and clearly defined from the next even when relaxed, but unlike the few bodybuilders Kim had seen before, Corscan had just enough body fat to smooth over most of the striation lines of her muscles as well as hiding a lot of the obvious veins such a well developed physique usually had. The result made her appear more like a marble statue of a female Hercules come to life than particularly freakish, and despite the fact that Corscan was much bigger than a lot of the boys Kim knew—and even some of the henchmen she had fought before—her look still somehow managed to come off as distinctly feminine, though in a very primal, sensual sort of way instead of girly.

Kim's temporary fascination with Corscan's appearance quickly dropped away however as she finally began taking notice of exactly _what_ the exotic woman was doing while she watched her. As Kim looked on, Corscan stood before the ironwood log and launched another series of attacks at the immobile object, each powerful blow landing with a deep, heavy "thunk" that had been the original thing that drew Kim's attention to the woman to begin with.

Corscan started with a series of three fast climbing kicks with her right leg, slamming the top of her foot and shin into the log at knee, waist, and head height. Then she dropped her leg and whipped her left elbow into the log at head height before grabbing it with her hands so that she could drive her right knee into it several times, each twisting strike landing high enough to reach someone's ribs—or in Kim's case, given the height difference, her head. Releasing the log and dropping her leg again, Corscan pivoted and slammed her right and then left elbow into the log in hard succession before sending a flurry of punches in at about chest height, another right elbow, and then finishing with a step back so that she could lean sideways and send an extended twin thrust punch in at center mass.

"Oh crap!" The exclamation slipped from Kim's lips unnoticed as her brow furrowed in disbelief and she almost dropped her backpack. _Ok, so maybe I_ will _need to hurt her in order to win this thing_, Kim thought to herself ruefully as she shook her head and watched the display of power and conditioning.

"Yes, that is a common reaction many have when witnessing Ms. Mataii's prowess for the first time." Ms. Li said with an amused smile from where she stood forgotten next to Kim, and the high-pitched cartoon voice cut through Kim's distraction and disbelief like a razor, almost causing her to jump from the sudden start it gave her.

"Ummm, yeah, ok, so she's certainly impressive, I'll give her that." Kim responded, more to cover up her almost jumping than anything else.

Aborting another attack on the standing ironwood log when she heard Kim and Ms. Li talking, Corscan turned and smiled when she saw Kim. As she moved out into the open area and headed towards them, Kim could easily see the way the big woman moved now, always balanced and on the balls of her feet, the lazy, gliding stride so blatantly obvious now that she knew to look for it.

Arriving in front of the pair, Corscan's smile quirked deeper on the left and she said; "Hello Kim. Hope I didn't scare you off there."

Smiling back despite herself, Kim answered; "Nope. Logs don't move or hit back. You'll find that I do. Quite a bit actually."

Corscan laughed warmly and replied; "I certainly hope so Kim, I certainly hope so. So, should we get down to business then?"

"Alright. How are we going to do this anyway?" Kim asked.

"Well, first up Bob from Legal is waitin' in my office over there with the waiver I've gotta sign, so we'll get that done so that he can get outta here before dinner, k'?" Corscan answered.

"Ok then." Kim said before following Corscan and Ms. Li over to the office area she had noticed earlier. As they approached, Kim noticed that all three walls of the office were covered with heavy bookcases filled with countless hardcover books, and there looked to be four computers worth of tower cases by the heavy wooden desk, two standing on each side of it. There were also several standing brass lamps in the room that suggested the powerful overhead lights that were being used right now didn't always light the dome thusly.

As they entered the office, Kim saw a slight and slightly older looking man stand up from one of the armchairs in front of the heavy desk and nod to the approaching group.

"Kim, this is Bob Thorne from our legal department. Bob, this is Kim Possible." Corscan said, introducing Kim to the man.

"Hello Mr. Thorne." Kim said to the man.

"Hello Ms. Possible." Bob responded, his voice sounding for all the world like an only slightly deeper version of Kermit the Frog's. "If you all would be so kind as to come over here for a moment we can get this over with quickly."

Kim nodded and did as she was told, heading to a place in front of Corscan's desk near where Bob was standing. As the women clustered around the desk Bob picked up a briefcase that was next to the chair he had been sitting in and placed it on the desk, opening it and removing a document from inside.

Offering the document to Kim, Bob said, "If you would like to read this Ms. Possible, you will find that it is a variation of the standard sports-fighting disclaimer, absolving you of any and all injuries various and sundry that you might purposefully inflict upon Ms. Mataii during your match, up to, but _not_ including Ms. Mataii's death, as well as absolving you of any complications that may arise from said injuries, _including_ Ms. Mataii's death, and, lastly, absolving you of Ms. Mataii's death in the case of accident wherein Ms. Mataii's death was not the intention of the action."

"So basically, if we sign it, it means I can do anything to her except something obviously meant to kill her and I won't get in trouble for it?" Kim asked Bob, not taking the papers.

"In the loosest possible terms, that would be correct Ms. Possible." Bob said with the slight hint of distaste that most lawyers had when being… imprecise. Setting the waiver down on the desk Bob continued. "If you could sign here and initial here and here Ms. Possible?"

Kim moved over to the document, but then stopped, stymied until Corscan handed her a gold pen from off her desk. After thanking Corscan, Kim signed and initialed the waiver where Bob indicated, then gave Corscan back her pen and watched while she signed and initialed the document in several more places before Bob and Ms. Li finalized it by signing as witnesses in the proper places.

Quickly reshuffling the papers into two piles, Bob returned one of them to his briefcase and shut it before turning and handing the second set to Kim.

"This would be your copy Ms. Possible." Bob said.

"Ok, thank you Mr. Thorne." Kim said as she took her copy of the waiver and put it into her backpack.

"Is there anything else you need me for Ms. Mataii?" Bob asked after Kim took the papers from him, turning to Corscan while he picked up his briefcase.

"No, that's everythin' for tonight Bob, have a good evenin'." Corscan replied.

"And you too Ms. Mataii." Bob answered before turning and heading out towards the main exit of the dome.

"Well, looks like we're almost ready to get started now Kim." Corscan said. "Is there anythin' you wanna do before we begin? Want a little somethin' to eat or need to use the bathroom or anythin'?"

"No thank you. I pretty much did all of that on the plane Corscan." Kim answered.

"All right then." Corscan said, heading out into the main room once more with Kim and Ms. Li following along with her.

"Now, there are about a dozen security cameras spread out around the room, an' for tonight, they'll all be trained on the main area here, recordin' our fight so that there'll be a video record of it afterwards." Corscan said to Kim. "Since they don't record sound, you don't need to sign any release forms for the footage to be used legally. You ok with that?"

"What do you mean?" Kim asked.

"Well, I _could_ mass market the footage or put it up on the Internet or somethin' if I wanted to…" Corscan said with a smile.

Kim laughed and answered; "Given how much news and television footage there is of me doing stuff like this out there already, I really don't think one more will make a difference. Not to mention some of the other… things, that are on some of my fan sites." Kim blushed slightly and looked away at the last part, unsure of why she had brought up that particularly embarrassing detail of her life.

"All right then, one last thing an' we can get started. Hui?" Corscan looked at Ms. Li and she nodded back, looking on with obvious attention now. Turning back to Kim, Corscan continued. "We fight until one of us admits the other one is better than she is, or until one of us can't go on anymore."

"Ok." Kim answered.

"If it's me, I'll set you up with transport an' gear provided anytime, anywhere, for as long as you want it, no strings attached. If it's you… well… your ass is mine." Corscan grinned evilly. "Anythin' I want, for one day, so long as it ain't sure to get'cha hurt or killed, it ain't illegal where you're doin' it, an' you don't need to hurt anyone that doesn't have it comin'. Agreed?"

At the end of her statement Corscan held out her hand to Kim, and after a brief moment to consider one last time, Kim took it and answered "Agreed." Corscan's grip was strong and much firmer than last time, holding Kim's hand so tightly it was just shy of being a challenge to the girl, and Corscan looked deep into Kim's fern-green eyes as she said; "Agreed" resolutely in return. Kim understood, and nodded once, squeezing Corscan's hand equally while she looked back into her gold-flecked hazel eyes and said "Agreed" once more, with the same resolve. Corscan nodded back; word had been given.

Breaking into a playful, amused grin, Corscan squeezed Kim's hand a little tighter while softly saying; "Y'know if I was evil I'd punch you in the head right now, right?"

With the serious air broken, Kim grinned back and answered; "You'd _try_." while matching Corscan's grip as best she could.

"Heh…" Corscan released Kim's hand and turned to Ms. Li. "Well, you heard the girl, we have an arrangement an' business to get down to."

"As you say Ms. Mataii, as you say." Ms. Li answered. "I shall see that the two of you are not disturbed unless it is absolutely necessary. Medical teams will be standing by should either of you need them, and we have positioned a jet helicopter outside of the exit nearest your quarters should medevac be required. Is there anything else you need of me Ms. Mataii?"

"No Hui, that's fine, that's just fine." Corscan answered.

Ms. Li nodded and turned to Kim.

"I wish you luck in your endeavors young Ms. Possible." Ms. Li said formally with a half-bow, and Kim bowed back and thanked her before the woman turned and left the dome through the double doors.

"An' now here we are, all alone…" Corscan's voice drew Kim's attention back to her as the big woman started moving out onto the blue circle in the center of the room. Setting her backpack down against the nearest wall, Kim followed her out onto the mats.

"So, would you like to warm up with me a little, or are you gonna try startin' cold? Corscan said with a wry smile.

"What did you have in mind?" Kim asked her.

"Some Escrima sparrin' to get the blood flowin', an' then mebbi some heavier staff work to finish up?" Corscan answered.

"Ok, that sounds good to me." Kim said. She had a general familiarity with Escrima techniques, and well over half the styles of Kung Fu she knew taught some form of staff work as part of the discipline.

While Corscan headed toward the weapons displayed on the far side of the room, Kim settled onto the floor and started doing some stretching warm-ups. It was interesting knowing a real fight was coming but having time to fully prepare for it. Kim liked the way she could savor what she was feeling while she got ready too; nervous and edgy, but also keyed up and eager, with just a little bit of fear thrown into the mix to make things interesting, thanks to seeing Corscan's earlier display of capability.

Kim snorted softly and smiled to herself as she thought; _hey, maybe _this_ is what I'll do for a living. Kim Possible; professional ass-kicker. UFC, here I come._

"Do you want to use Rattan sticks or Kamagong Kim?" Corscan said loudly from the weapons area.

"Ummm, I know what the Rattan ones are, but what's Kamagong?" Kim nearly shouted back while continuing to stretch out.

"Ironwood. Y'know, the skull-crackers." Even though she couldn't see it, Kim was sure Corscan was smiling as she said that.

"Rattan'll be fine." Kim answered.

"Ok. You prefer the usual twenty-eight inch ones or the shorter twenty inch ones? Or mebbi one long an' a short dagger instead?"

_Jeez, how many freaking sticks do you have over there anyway?_ Kim thought to herself before looking up and seeing that Corscan was standing next to a raised wicker basket that appeared to have several dozen handles rising from it. _Never mind, forget I asked._ Kim concluded with an amused grin.

"A pair of twenty eights please and thank you." Kim answered.

"Hardwood or bamboo for your staff?" Corscan asked a few moments later.

"Bamboo please."

"Cane wrapped or plain?"

"Wrapped."

"Jo or Bo?"

"Hmmm, what do you think would be better?" Kim asked back.

"Bo makes more sense if we're steppin' up from Escrima; takes more effort." Corscan answered.

"Ok, gimmi a Bo then please."

By the time Kim finished her first set of warm-ups and was getting back to her feet, Corscan had returned to the mats. As Kim watched, Corscan dropped one cane-wrapped staff about twenty feet from the center of the area and then tossed the second one to Kim, the six-foot length spiraling around its center axis as it flew upright through the space between them. Kim snagged the staff out of the air neatly and spun it around herself a few times to dissipate the momentum it carried before she dropped it to the floor as well.

Smiling, Corscan moved to the center of the room and set the two pair of long Rattan sticks she carried on the floor while Kim started her first set of standing stretches. Moving back to about halfway between her staff and the sticks, Corscan stood and watched Kim with an appraising eye for a bit before languidly raising her arms overhead and sort of… undulating, from side to side while stretching out fully on her tiptoes.

Dropping back down to the soles of her feet and lowing her arms, Corscan brought her left knee up to her chest and then, with a half-smile and an ever so slightly raised eyebrow of invitation, extended her leg up fully, lightly holding it in the standing forward splits position with her left arm.

"Oh, so _that's_ how it is, eh?" Kim murmured softly with a tight little smile before she turned towards Corscan and slowly duplicated the move.

Her smile deepening, Corscan released her calf and slowly lowered her leg, but instead of stopping when her foot brushed the floor, she continued moving it behind her while leaning forward at the waist, arcing her leg back in unison until she had reversed her original pose on the vertical plane, with her left leg now held straight up behind her and her upper body bent over fully and pressed tight against her right leg.

Still smiling, Kim easily followed suit, and then, after a few seconds in the new position, giggled and said; "Finished." when she realized there was no way the other woman could know she was done.

"Mmmmhmmm…" rolled across the room, and a half-minute later, "Ready."

Twisting her neck sharply and flipping her hair to the side, Kim was just barely able to get an upside down glimpse of Corscan as she now stood in an upright side splits position, her torso held at an angle to her right with her left hand gripping her ankle tightly and the muscles of her right leg twitching and rippling as she held the position through a combination of strength and balance.

"Ohhh-kay." Kim muttered as she considered her options. She knew she could do the position, but she wasn't entirely sure how to get there from the one she was in now without falling over. After a few more moments thinking it through Kim finally came up with a game plan.

Pivoting her upraised leg while twisting her torso to the side as she did so, Kim managed the standing side splits first, holding her upper body off her leg with her right arm. Then she lowered her left leg to the side just enough so that she could raise her torso and grab her calf with her left hand and then pull both her torso and leg up into the same position Corscan held.

"Ok, so what now?" Kim quipped with a smirk as she settled into the pose.

"Try this." Corscan responded before leaning to the side even further and resting her extended right hand on the floor with a little thump as she dropped her torso the rest of the way to avoid falling over. Then she locked her arm, and with nearly every muscle in her body tensing with the effort of balance, slowly shifted her hips and legs to the right until she was facing Kim doing a one-armed handstand with her legs still spread in a side splits above her.

Raising an eyebrow slightly, Kim considered why Corscan had chosen that position, as it was actually pretty easy to do if you knew what you were doing—even easier than the standing splits in some ways. That was, until she remembered the way the other woman had done the move very slowly instead of just dropping her arm and flipping her hips and leg to the side to get into it. Once she understood that Corscan was inviting her to follow suite in the same manner, Kim knew where the challenge was; the way Corscan had done it was more about power and controlled strength than balance.

Licking her lips and smiling, Kim thought; _trying to play to your strengths already, are we?_ as she began the same series of motions Corscan had done—only Kim did them even more slowly than the other woman had. By the end of it, Kim could feel a trembling strain burning in her shoulder, arm, front and side abs, and thighs, but it was worth it to let Corscan know she was going to have to do better than that to get to her.

Looking at Corscan from her upside-down position, Kim smiled and initiated a challenge of her own. Lowering her other arm and moving into a more stable handstand position, Kim first slowly spiraled her legs overhead, moving from side splits to forwards splits and back again twice, once for each leg in the forward position. Then she bent her spine backwards at an almost ninety-degree angle so that her stomach, hips, and split legs were facing the ceiling above her. After holding the contortionist pose for a ten count, Kim slowly pulled herself upright until she was "simply" doing a handstand with her legs straight in the air above her.

"Ow…" Corscan said with a grin before duplicating the feat exactly, though with a good degree more trembling and bunched muscle than Kim had had in the final step.

Kim snickered and then launched herself off the floor with her arms, twisting around in midair before flipping her legs down and pulling her torso up so that she was upright and facing Corscan once again as she thrust her arms down between her now spread legs, landing on her hands and holding her legs out to either side of her arms in a straddle nearly six inches off the floor, as if she were using a pommel horse.

Then Kim spent ten seconds trying to puff stray locks of hair out of her face with growing irritation as she had forgotten to flip her hair back during the move. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore and shifted her weight and balance over to her left arm and quickly used her right hand to scrape her hair back out of her face before returning to the original two-handed position.

"Interestin'." Corscan said before she duplicated the performance—_including_ the puffing and hair combing.

Rip-snorting into a chuckle at the antics, Kim struggled to control her mirth as the burn of straining muscles added to her laugh reflex. Shaking her head, Kim's smile twisted wickedly as she muttered "Ok then clown-girl, let's see how you handle _this_…"

With that, Kim broke into a full cycling pommel horse routine that was possible, but ten times harder to do, on a floor instead of a real pommel horse thanks to the lack of actual handles to work with and having solid floor under her scything, arcing legs instead of the mostly empty space around a pommel horse. After nearly a minute Kim was breathing heavily and starting to sweat, but she had performed nearly flawlessly despite the hampered space, and at last Kim finished up by dropping one hip to the floor and rolling onto her back, continuing the rotation of her scything legs into a break dancing style spinning kip up that took her to her feet.

Sucking in air, Kim casually folded her arms under her breasts and leaned back into a relaxed stance while she watched Corscan with a hint of a smile and waited for her flush from the high cardio activity to dissipate.

With a slight amused inclination of her head Corscan launched into the same style routine, though not the exact the same one Kim had performed. It was obvious that the effort of keeping herself high enough off the ground to stop her larger, more powerfully muscled legs from contacting the floor was much greater for her, but Corscan still managed to perform equally to Kim. When Corscan finally spun herself up onto her feet and it was over, Kim was left satisfied with the way she was breathing more heavily than Kim had been and wanting in that it seemed she was sweating less.

With that, the game was on in earnest as Kim launched into a series of standing flips and tumbles that Corscan followed. Then the big woman took the lead with some running lines that got more and more elaborate as she and Kim added difficulty and variety to each pass. Soon each of them was doing chained series of handsprings, flips, side springs, horizontal Wushu spins, vertical spins, and aerial tumbles as the challenges continued to escalate.

After about five minutes and ten exchanges later, Corscan finally held her right palm up to Kim as she was about to launch into her next planned pass and said; "Ok, enough. You got me. I could probably keep up with you quite a bit longer, but I'm workin' at it now, an' you obviously ain't yet, so…"

"Heh… score one for me then." Kim grinned as she panted back.

"Humph. More like score one for you an' the laws of physics. You give me a slim, lithe frame like yours an' I'll run your pretty little ass into the ground any day of the week."

"Oh really?" Kim said, more amused and pleased by the compliment than irritated at the boast.

"Count on it." Corscan responded with a grin. "Alas as a big girl, you've got me beat in the long run. Can't be helped."

"Well for a 'big girl' I've gotta admit you're pretty good. Better than I would have expected for sure. But I'm still going to win this thing you know." Kim responded with a grin of her own

Smiling, Corscan chuckled and said; "We'll see, we'll see."

Corscan padded over to the Escrima sticks in the center of the room and Kim quickly moved in to join her there. Picking up a pair of sticks in each hand, Corscan held both pair out to Kim, offering her the choice, and Kim decided to take the ones with the tiger stripe pattern and leave Corscan the spotted pair. Moving a few steps back from one another, both Kim and Corscan took a stick in each hand and lazily spun them around a few times before snapping up into a ready position and flashing through several katas and attack patterns, getting a feel for the weight and handling of their individual weapons. After a minute or so, Corscan nodded to Kim and she nodded back, indicating she was ready as well.

Corscan stepped back to the center of the room, turning so that her right side was facing Kim and leaning forward on her bent right leg while she extended her left out behind her. Raising her right arm, Corscan extended her angled forearm towards Kim while holding her left arm out behind her, straight and parallel to her extended leg, and then waited. Kim stepped up and duplicated the position, resting her forearm against Corscan's so that their crossed forearms and the Escrima sticks rising from their hands formed a perfect diamond between them.

Looking into Kim's fern-green eyes intently, Corscan intoned; "To compete is to win."

Kim nodded once, slowly, not breaking eye contact with Corscan. She had heard the double meaning phrase before. One interpretation was that the only valid option in a competition was winning; all other outcomes were meaningless or even dishonorable, and that competitors must focus solely on winning above all else. The other interpretation, the one that Kim had come to hold—at least when she was thinking straight anyway—and was all but certain Corscan meant as well, was that winning or losing was what was meaningless, and that it was what you put into the competition itself that mattered. To strive to do your very best, to push yourself past what you've done before, to become more than you are simply by trying as hard as you can, that was the true worth of competition, win or lose.

Of course, winning didn't hurt either, and Kim was determined to win tonight along with carrying away anything else she might gain from this competition with Corscan.

Staring back into Corscan's gold-flecked hazel eyes just as keenly, Kim tensed in anticipation as she signaled that she too was ready to begin by returning the saying solemnly.

"To compete is to win."


	7. Fun With Blunt Instruments

As soon as the words were out of Kim's mouth Corscan twisted her right wrist and extended her forearm, sending her stick hooking around towards the side of Kim's head in a vicious arc. Kim twisted her own forearm to the right and bent her wrist, snapping her stick out straight to block the attack with a sharp "crack" of Rattan on Rattan, and then had to step back and disengage as Corscan turned and kept coming with a follow up mid-body strike using her left stick. 

As Corscan's stick arced through the space Kim had occupied, Kim stepped back in with a shoulder-high strike from her right stick and a stomach level strike with her left stick, but Corscan reversed the direction of her left stick and intercepted the first blow as it arced in while she dropped her right and caught the second just a few inches above her hand.

With both her sticks caught in inside blocking positions and hampered by the lack of space, Corscan pushed back hard on Kim's sticks, shoving the girl away from her and then spearing the ends of her sticks in with a twin thrust strike to Kim's chest. Kim swept her right stick back in and caught both the oncoming sticks in a sweeping side block even as she spun her body to the right and out of the way, sweeping her left stick in towards the back of Corscan's head in a spinning back strike that the other woman crouched low to duck under almost before it was coming.

Corscan whipped her left stick back and to the side from her crouching position, coming in low on Kim's left leg, and Kim snapped her left stick down to catch the attack before sending her right stick down in a chopping strike at Corscan's shoulder. Corscan continued to twist around however, and bent her right arm over her head so that she could catch Kim's descending strike on her own back-angled stick. Still twisting in place, Corscan slid her blocking stick along Kim's until it came free and continued the motion, whipping the stick around in a tight arc to come in against Kim's leg again, leaving her with no other option but to skip back from the woman.

Surging to her feet, Corscan whipped her sticks back and forth in spinning, fanning defensive patterns while Kim took two pivot steps back and initiated her own defensive pattern as she regained her stance and timing. A moment later Kim came in hard once more, her sticks licking out in a high-low-high strike pattern that Corscan turned aside with a series of arcing blocks before counterattacking with a barrage of mid and high body strikes that Kim caught with her own defenses.

Breaking apart once more, Kim only had time to reestablish her stance and ready position before Corscan came in with an offensive of her own. Kim bit her lower lip in concentration as she tracked and blocked each of Corscan's constant snapping, arcing strikes in turn, hard pressed now that the other woman was hanging back and using her greater reach to her advantage. The air filled with a constant clatter of sharp staccato "cracks" as Kim and Corscan circled one another, their sticks fanning, looping blurs interspaced with sudden snapping stops as blocks intercepted strikes repeatedly.

At one point Kim barely managed to stop herself from instinctively stepping up onto Corscan's extended thigh and using it as a springboard to launch a flying acrobatic attack at the back of the other woman's head. One reason she stopped herself was that this was supposed to just be sparring, and despite how hard Corscan was pressing her, the move would have felt a little too… real, for Kim's comfort—never mind the fact that she was sure she could have totally nailed her with it. The other reason was that the attack wouldn't have even remotely been within normal Escrima techniques, and since Corscan had yet to try nailing her with anything other than her sticks, Kim was going to keep to the same rules, even if she _was_ doing worse than she expected too.

Nonetheless, both Kim and Corscan brought their own unique moves to the battle in an effort to throw the other's timing or positioning off. Corscan liked quickly spinning out to her right or left, pivoting on the appropriate leg in a similar motion used for spinning backfists, circling up to ninety degrees around Kim as well as coming in with an attack that forced the girl to rapidly shift her position in order to block or avoid it. Kim on the other hand preferred to simply vacate the space her body was in by dropping into an extended crouching phoenix stance that had her so low to the ground she was practically hugging the floor before either surging back up in a rising attack against Corscan or coming in against her legs, depending on the moment.

Finally, after yet another heated exchange in which both Kim and Corscan's sticks had been nothing more than constant pale fanning blurs of motion the entire time and the rhythmic "clack" and "crack" of their impact sounded like a percussion recital, Kim realized that she had been on the defensive for over half the time they had been doing this now, and most of that had been the last few minutes straight.

Clenching her teeth, Kim decided that she really only had one chance against Corscan if she wanted to take back the offensive; to get in close and crowd the big woman, denying her her superior reach. It was risky because of how powerful the other woman was and that she knew how to use that power to her advantage, and, more importantly, that the tactic went against Kim's usual preference to keep in the open and at a distance from a foe so that she could use her agility and mobility to full advantage against them.

Still, Kim was sick of being on the receiving end, so she came at Corscan in a sudden rush before the woman could initiate another attack, pushing in to close range and using short, snapping fan and hook strikes along with pommel strikes to maintain the crowding range and keep Corscan on the defensive unless she wanted to break off and retreat to a longer distance.

It seemed to be working well, until, with an almost slithering motion, Corscan wound a hand and stick around Kim's right wrist and with a twist, caught her stick and disarmed her. Five seconds of desperate attempt to avoid it later, Kim found herself with one arm trapped in a lock while she was bent back over Corscan's extended thigh with the tip of the woman's other stick tucked neatly in the center of her jaw, just above her throat.

Corscan looked down into Kim's shocked eyes and grinned. "I believe you're dead there Kim." She said softly. "Now, where did you go wrong?"

Grimacing, Kim sighed and then growled out; "I forgot that one of the primary techniques Escrima teaches is close quarters trapping." Kim paused for a moment and then snorted. "And it doesn't help that although I know what I'm doing, you're an Escrima master, aren't you?"

"Well, there is that." Corscan said, still smiling as she released Kim and steadied her back to her feet. "But you did pretty good there for an adept. An' of course, you spent a bit of effort resistin' temptation too…"

"Come again?" Kim asked, unsure what Corscan meant.

"The aerial an' high kickin' urges?"

"Oh. You picked up on that, did you?" Kim answered a little uncomfortably.

"Kinda hard to miss darlin'. Y'd tense up an' then just release for no reason, or do somethin' contrary to the motions you were preparin' for. I'd'a figured it was a feintin' tactic except y'never seemed to try an' take advantage—an' a few times I saw it throw you off your timin' too. What else could it'a been?"

"Heh… well, it's been quite a while since I've had to stick to a single style. Guess I'm a little rusty there."

"S'ok, y'did fine. But still… score one for me." Corscan said with a teasing smile before holding out her Escrima sticks and asking Kim; "Would you mind puttin' these away while I get some water?"

"Sure." Kim answered, taking the sticks and adding them to her own.

As Corscan headed towards the dining room area Kim watched her go, taking note that yet again although the big woman was breathing more heavily than Kim was, she wasn't sweating nearly as much. Added to the fact that she had lost the sparring match, unlike her win at tumbling, and Kim was less than happy with herself. Of course, it wasn't like she'd really had a chance either. The family motto might be "anything's possible for a Possible," but it would have to be "everything's a certainty for a Possible" for Kim to have beaten an Escrima master with only her level of skill while relying only on the discipline itself. Still, she had learned a few things, and now thought that maybe picking up some more Escrima training might be a good idea.

Sighing, Kim moved to where the stick Corscan disarmed her of had landed, bent over, and picked it up. Then she wandered into the area where the weapons were displayed and carefully slid the four Rattan sticks into the basket they came from.

Looking around, Kim marveled at the sheer variety and functionality of all the weapons that were here. Corscan must have spent a small fortune acquiring and maintaining the extensive collection of battle-ready weaponry. There were dozens of examples of pretty much every primary Asian weapon type resting on the racks and displays around her, and at least four or five versions of any specific thing Kim could think of—and even a few she had never seen before.

Coming to a stop in front of a tiered rack of katana swords she had wandered over to, Kim looked them over and was surprised at how plain they all appeared. The hilts and sheaths were all subdued and simple, with the only ornamentation being small but functional flourishes on the guards and pommel caps. One of the swords didn't even have any cloth wrapping around its hilt, but rather, it was bound in a woven pattern of well-worn, pale grey leather of some kind.

Curious, Kim reached out and ran her fingers over the hilt and was surprised to feel the material catching at them, slightly rough and tacky to the touch. Kim carefully lifted the sword from the rack and brought it closer to her face, examining the simple, unadorned brass oval lozenge that formed its broad, heavy guard and finding that it was covered in countless fine scratches along with a few heavier nicks and notches. Breaking the seal with her thumb, Kim slid five inches of blade free of the sheath, examining the sturdy brass tang, sinuous wave pattern in the thick steel, and the brilliant white gleam of the keen edge-line the blade held.

"Careful; it's as sharp as it looks Kim." Corscan's voice came softly from behind and to the right, and Kim narrowly avoided starting from it.

Turning, Kim glanced back at Corscan where she stood on the edge of the area, a metal-capped glass water bottle in either hand.

"Sorry, I was just looking." Kim said as she re-sheathed the blade fully and began putting it back on the rack.

"No need to apologize darlin'. Y'have good instincts though; that's my favorite katana, an authentic Nagasone Kotetsu blade in the best master-crafted functional settin' that a modern smith could produce for it." Corscan quirked a smile and continued; "An' probably worth more money than both your parents have made put together since you became a teenager."

"Oh," Kim said softly, suddenly very nervous as she finished placing the sword on the rack very, very carefully.

Corscan laughed and said; "It ain't glass Kim, no need to go all timid on it. I've fought with that blade before, an' it's worth every cent it cost; strong steel that'll hold up under extreme conditions. You'd have to _try_ an' abuse it to do any damage… or treat it like total crap, as the case may be."

"Thanks, but I'd rather not play with something that costs more than the house I live in. Or a few of them I guess." Kim said with a grin as she came back out onto the mats to join Corscan.

"Heh… here, have some water." Corscan said as she held the bottle in her left hand out to Kim.

"Thanks." Kim said as she took the bottle and opened it by twisting off the metal cap. The water was cool, but not cold, and after a few mouthfuls an odd aftertaste had Kim smacking her lips wetly while looking at the unadorned glass bottle with a peculiar expression on her face.

"Somethin' wrong?" Corscan asked after swallowing a mouthful of her own.

"This spring water tastes… funny. Not _bad_… but… weird." Kim answered.

"Ahhh… that's because it's not spring water; it's distilled. Then it's heavily re-oxygenated in a tank packed with granite gravel an' filtered through a long sluice filled with mineral sands before it's finally bottled."

"Hunh. Well, it's different; I'll give it that."

"I can get you somethin' else if you don't like it."

"No, that's ok. It's just odd is all. I think it's something I'd need to get a taste for. Not that I'd want that," Kim ended with a smile, "last thing I need is to be spending my money on what I'm sure is expensive bottled water—in a spankin' glass bottle no less."

"Curses! You've foiled my plan! Now how will I gain control of the great Kim Possible if she ain't hooked on my bottled water an' I have nothin' to hold hostage on her?" Corscan teased, eliciting a smile and a laugh from Kim in return. "Seriously though, I'll send a crate to your house; see if you really do like it or not. Now c'mon, let's get goin' before we cool down too much."

"Ok." Kim said, not taking Corscan seriously. Quickly the girl trotted over to her backpack and set the mostly full bottle down next to it before heading back out onto the mats and over to where she had dropped her staff.

Stopping, Kim looked up at Corscan with a smile before resting her foot on the top of the thick, cane-wrapped bamboo pole and pulling it back with a snap, rolling it up onto the top of her foot and then tossing it into the air where she caught it neatly with her right hand. Twirling the staff over the back of her hand, Kim took it in both hands as it came around again and smoothly continued the motion into a looping figure eight pattern, windmilling the staff around her from side to side in a dark brown blur.

After several passes Kim switched back to using the staff in one hand and started passing it back and forth from hand to hand over her shoulder or behind her back while turning in place. Kim went faster and faster until she culminated by rolling the weapon around either upper arm and catching it with the same hand or spinning it around her neck several times each before ending in a low crouch with the staff held in a broad two-handed grip, one end extended in front of her and the other close to her body.

Corscan quirked a deep lopsided smile near the end of the exhibition, and after Kim was done she said; "Heh. I never could get the hang of that; I'd always end up smashin' myself in the face or sendin' it spinnin' off in a random direction. Still, I get by…"

With that Corscan flipped her own staff into the air with her foot, caught it, and performed a similar initial spinning and transfer display before moving into a series of high-low-high sweeping strike and extended thrust katas, every blow snapping to a crisp, dead stop at the end of the move. All through the exhibition Corscan's superior strength allowed her to use the weapon at a far greater speed than Kim had mustered while still maintaining the same degree of control, the deep thrumming sound of the pole cutting through the air coming almost continuously from it. The performance finally ended with Corscan in a wide, open stance that had her right leg extended towards Kim while she crouched back on her left, arms spread out to either side of her and the staff held with one end tucked into the small of her back while the other extended straight out with her right forearm curled around it to hold it in place.

_Well this should be interesting_, Kim thought to herself with a tight grin.

Kim could tell that unless Corscan had been holding back—which she doubted—her own staff work was a little better than the other woman's, on a technical level at least. It wasn't that she was _sloppy_ per se, but Kim thought that Corscan had come to rely on her strength to give her control of the weapon instead of technique. In most cases the result amounted to the same thing, but, there were a few ways to exploit the difference if you knew what you were doing—and Kim certainly knew what she was doing.

This time it was Kim who attacked first. With a grunt she charged forward and swung the right end of her staff in towards Corscan's head, but the other woman simply shifted the angle of her own extended staff by twisting her forearm, blocking the strike while taking a half-step back. Kim reversed her motion and sent the other end of her staff whipping in at Corscan's shoulder, only to be met with Corscan's staff as she again shifted the angle she held it at and blocked.

Raising an eyebrow at the odd one-armed defense even as she attacked again, Kim sent another three strikes in to be met with the same results before she started to get annoyed. Growling, Kim's brow furrowed with concentration as she sent a barrage of varying high and low alternating strikes in at Corscan in rapid succession with little success, other than forcing Corscan back several steps.

Finally, Kim detected the flaw in Corscan's infuriating defense and sent a blow sweeping in at the woman with the left side of her staff that was perfectly level and at the same height as Corscan's forearm, meaning that if Corscan wanted to use the same technique to block it, she would have to catch the end of Kim's staff perfectly with the _thickness_ of her own instead of the length; that being roughly an inch-and-a-half window of success. And if she could do that… well, Kim might as well just give up.

Instead, Corscan neither succeeded nor failed, but rather declined to try entirely, skipping out to the side quickly and avoiding the blow. With a scowl, Kim pursued her, snapping alternating strikes in at the same level over and over again as she advanced, until Corscan finally broke her stance and swept the end of her staff out from behind her back with an awkward looking move of her arm.

Holding the cane-wrapped pole more or less vertical in her right hand, Corscan jerked the upright staff back and forth, blocking each of Kim's continuing blows in succession until she was able to recover her stance and timing enough to skip back out of range for the half-second it took to reverse her grip on the pole and sweep it around her whole body several times in a six foot wide attack circle, forcing Kim to break off her advance and block the incoming staff as Corscan moved towards her for the first time since they had started.

Finally gaining the time she needed to risk grabbing her staff with the other hand, Corscan did so, adjusting her grip on the staff and settling into a more standard stance, the ends of the weapon circling and twisting in brown blurs to catch each of Kim's blows in turn as the girl renewed her assault and began varying her attacks once more now that she had finally achieved her objective of breaking Corscan's initial defense. Unfortunately, breaking Corscan's initial defense also freed her to start attacking as well, and the big woman wasted no time beginning a series of counterattacks that soon had Kim hard-pressed to continue maintaining her own offense in the face of them.

Not being constrained to a single discipline that she was only moderately skilled in allowed Kim the freedom to finally use her mobility and agility the way she preferred to though, leaping over or rolling under attacks as well as springing in and out of range or position in order to avoid attacks or launch ones of her own from unusual angles. For the most part Corscan pursued, retreated, or endured in a well grounded, balanced stance, but every now and then the big woman would avoid or initiate an attack of her own using a similar and equally acrobatic display, reminding Kim that despite her size, Corscan was fairly mobile, almost as agile as she was, and just as fast when it came to striking and blocking speed.

As Kim and Corscan circled one another the pace of their sweeping, snapping strikes and blocks picked up speed until their staves were blurs of continuous motion spinning and swirling around them, with the dull "cracks" of their repeated impacts coming near continuously. They had been sparring for nearly five minutes now—an eternity in terms of fighting—and neither one of them had managed to achieve anything more than a few minor hits on the other or forcing a stumble here and there, and the even contest was starting to take its toll on Kim. She wasn't used to fighting someone who so evenly matched her for such a long time, and the burn of exertion was settling into her arms, shoulders, and waist as the match continued. Nonetheless, Kim was pleased to note that this time round she was finally making Corscan sweat as much as she was—though annoyingly the other woman's breathing was a little more controlled than Kim's; testament to how little effort using her staff was thanks to her superior strength.

Deciding it was finally time to pull out all the stops and make her final play for victory, Kim snapped in a series of strikes designed to push Corscan's defense a little further out of line with each one, until Kim had the window she wanted for her real attack. Spinning to the left and stepping forward so she was on Corscan's front side, Kim hooked the right end of her angled staff behind Corscan's ankle as she came back around, flipping her leg out from under her and dumping the big woman on her back with a heavy thump.

As Corscan was falling Kim sent the left end of her staff chopping down at her head, but even as she hit the ground the other woman still managed to interpose her own staff between herself and the descending blow. Then Corscan wrenched the end around to the side, chopping in at Kim's legs and forcing her to leap up over the incoming strike. As she descended, Kim flipped her staff around in a loop and struck at Corscan once more, but even as she did so, her eyes widened with a gasp of panic as Corscan pulled her staff up and struck at Kim's falling form with an angled thrust.

Frantically throwing herself to the side while levering her staff in the other direction, Kim narrowly avoided ending up folded over the thrust, knocking Corscan's staff out of line just enough that combined with her desperate aerial swerve she fell to the side of it instead, landing in an uncontrolled heap. As soon as she got her bearings and breath back, Kim rolled away from Corscan several times before she got sufficient distance to feel safe rolling up and to her feet in a low, compact crouch. As Kim did so, Corscan bent her legs straight up to her chest and then snapped them back down, pushing off the floor with her shoulders and flipping up to her feet in the difficult kip up maneuver.

Facing Kim as the young woman rose to her feet once more, Corscan turned her right side towards the girl and snapped her staff up and out, adjusting her grip so that her left hand was just above the bottom end and her right was in the middle. Advancing still side on, Corscan began spearing the end of her weapon at Kim in a series of ongoing thrusts that lanced in randomly anywhere from Kim's knees to shoulders. As the assault continued it also picked up speed, until the thrusting pole was all but a blur of constant motion.

"Oh crap." Kim muttered as she finally recognized the oncoming attack pattern she was devoting more and more effort to defending herself against. It was a near perfect execution of the Thousand Thrusts Barrage, and a skilled practitioner could use it to easily pin down a single opponent for as long as they could keep up the pace. With Corscan's strength that could prove to be quite a long time indeed, and Kim wasn't sure she could manage the strenuous defense for such a prolonged period, so rather than see, she decided to try the riskier tactic of executing a counter to it.

Slowly shifting her grip on her staff in jerky steps while she continued blocking, Kim eventually mirrored Corscan's grip and stance, and as she did so, the other woman's look of concentration broke with a tight, lopsided grin. Instead of abandoning her attack however, Corscan continued the Thousand Thrusts Barrage, apparently intending to make Kim work for her counter instead of breaking off her assault prematurely.

Soon Kim was dueling the end of Corscan's staff with her own, twisting it back and forth or flipping it around and down to block the incoming strikes in a series of moves that almost resembled the way fencing swords engaged one another. After another dozen or so strikes to get the pacing down, Kim made her first attempt to counter, but failed to properly engage. A few strikes later she finally snared the side of Corscan's staff properly and began twisting and circling it around in a cone shaped motion which Corscan was forced to match or suffer the counterstrike.

After a dozen or more looping passes around Corscan's staff Kim finally snapped hers down as she stepped in close and slightly to the side of Corscan, standing almost shoulder to shoulder with the other woman while pushing Corscan's staff into the floor, her own staff crossed over and bearing down on it, locking it down for as long as she could hold it there.

For a few moments both women stood panting and looking at one another, Kim pushing down doggedly while Corscan pulled up with enough strength to make it a struggle for Kim to hold the staff locked to the floor, despite the superior leverage and position she had. Kim knew she could risk snapping the end of her staff up and back towards Corscan's head, and if she succeeded, it would be a telling strike, but, if Corscan was fast enough to get her high end up and block the blow, Kim would be wide open for the inside strike to her legs that the other woman would surely make in return. It was a Mexican standoff.

Still looking intently at Kim, and still smiling, Corscan sucked in a breath in order to pant out; "Draw?" questioningly.

After a brief moment to consider, Kim nodded once, somewhat grudgingly, and puffed back "Draw." with a reluctant, amused smile of her own.


	8. Almost, But Not Quite, Mortal Kombat

Note: Yes, I am aware that there are no Elemental Kung Fu styles, but the idea and nod to Avatar was too good to pass up. ;)

Spoiler Note; do not read if you seek to avoid a minor spoiler:

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If you want an idea of what )_The Way_( looks like, imagine the speed of Jet Li, the brutal efficiency of Tony Jaa in Ong Bak, and the near impossible positioning and placement advantage The Rock used in The Rundown.

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"Well, that was fun." Corscan said as she carefully eased up on her staff. "Y'almost had me a bunch 'a times there." 

"Heh… you too." Kim responded, lifting her staff and stepping back, freeing Corscan.

Even though the contest had ended with Corscan sweating as much as Kim and breathing almost as heavily, Kim was left wanting. She wondered if the results would have been the same if this had been a serious match instead of just a warm-up for the main event. If she had been free to push herself at full speed and exertion, and Corscan had been free to use her full strength in her strikes, blocks, and counters, would it have still ended in a draw, or would one of them have managed to gain a partial or full victory over the other?

"So, you all warmed up now?" Corscan asked, breaking into Kim's pondering thoughts.

Looking up, Kim answered; "Yeah, you could say that," as she swiped her upper forearm across her forehead to wipe away the sheen of sweat there with her sleeve.

"Good. Gimmi your staff an' I'll put 'em away so we can get started."

"Ok."

Kim handed her staff to Corscan and then trotted over to her backpack and squatted down next to it, first to get some more water from the bottle she had left beside it, and then to dig around inside it until she found her blue scrunchie. Still crouching, Kim grabbed her hair and gathered it all up and tight back before wrapping the scrunchie around the base of the new ponytail riding high on the crown of her head several times to secure it tightly. Just as she was finishing up, a sharp whistle from across the room drew her attention to Corscan as she stood next to one of the tables in the weapons area across the room.

"Catch." Corscan said before gently lobbing a small, grey object towards Kim in a long arc, followed up by a second one a moment later, before the first had even arrived.

Catching the first and then second object, Kim examined them and saw that they were plain-wrapped bars of some kind. Tearing the tough tri-layer paper, plastic, and foil wrapper of one open with her teeth, Kim peeled it back and found a PowerBar sized clump of granola and dried fruit chunks held together with a heavy honey-glaze coating inside. Happily crunching away on the treat, Kim put the other bar down next to her backpack and picked up her water again before standing and turning to watch Corscan doing basically the same thing she was only on the other side of the room.

Once she had finished her bar, Kim drank about a third of her water and set it back on the floor next to the remaining bar before heading back out onto the mats to meet Corscan once more, this time to start what she was really here for tonight.

As Kim approached the center of the room, she watched Corscan pad towards her in return, and all of her previous feelings started rising up in her again, only this time even more so now that she had a better idea of what she was up against. As far as Kim could tell, Corscan was good—_very_ good. In her own way she was probably as good as Shego or Monkey Fist was, and the coming competition would be much closer than Kim had expected it to be… and Kim was excited over that. This was going to be a fight to remember, a contest that would push her to her limits, and most importantly, one she could truly _enjoy_ for once, instead of worrying about what would happen if she lost.

_Not that I'm going to lose_, Kim thought with a smile as she came to a stop just shy of the center of the room, about six feet away from Corscan.

"So, you ready?" Corscan asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Kim answered, still smiling.

"All right. We'll take short breaks every fifteen minutes or so, but otherwise, it's as nonstop as we make it."

"Fifteen minutes eh? Sure you're not being a little overconfident there?" Kim couldn't help ribbing at the matter-of-fact way Corscan assumed the contest was going to last marathon levels in fighting terms.

"Nope," Corscan said with a wry grin. "Not at all."

Kim just smiled and shook her head slightly in response, a barely existent chuckle in the back of her throat.

Her smile fading, Corscan dropped into a wide stance and Kim tensed into one of her own as the big woman suddenly carried out an in-place kata using broad, sweeping arm movements that Kim quickly recognized as Mantis Style Kung Fu, ending with Corscan settling into a nearly flawless Mantis Stance, one leg extended towards Kim and slightly bent while she half-squatted back on the other, both arms raised shoulder high and bent with the hands angled down sharply. Then Corscan tilted her head slightly and quirked an eyebrow at Kim, her smile returning as she did so.

Kim was puzzled for a moment; confused that Corscan hadn't taken a Muay Thai style hard stance or a more blended combination style stance like she had expected her to do. Then she finally got the message; it was another challenge. With a growing smile, Kim nodded and performed a Mantis kata of her own before ending it mirroring Corscan's stance perfectly.

As soon as Kim settled fully into her stance the fight was on, Corscan hopping forward with a thrusting kick that Kim avoided with a sidestep before having to throw up a sequence of forearm and wrist blocks as Corscan followed up with a series of arm strikes. The blows came in hard and fast, and Kim had no doubt that they would hurt if they hit, but it was obvious Corscan wasn't striking as brutally as she could, nor was she trying to take Kim out, just… hurt her a little if she wasn't on her game. Kim matched her intensity and felt her out, staying defensive for a while before finally committing to an offence as well, striking back with the same level of power and violence Corscan was using.

The fight went on for about three or four minutes before it became clear that despite getting a few good hits in, and having a reach advantage for the style, Corscan was losing to Kim's superior skill and ability—not by very much, but losing nonetheless. After yet another furious exchange, Corscan took several steps back instead of pursuing as Kim disengaged, and then partially dropped her stance, still on guard just in case Kim came back in after her, but obviously standing down.

Kim took another step back and did the same; taking the opportunity to suck down some much needed air. As Kim stood looking at Corscan the other woman watched her in return, both of them sweating while they quickly recovered their breathing. Then Corscan gave Kim a single inclined nod, which Kim sensed was her conceding the match to her. After that, Corscan initiated yet another kata, this time very centered and grounded, ending with her dropping into a broad Horse Stance. With a tight smile, the now recovered Kim performed a Horse Style kata of her own and took the offensive as soon as she hit her Stance.

And so it went, with Kim and Corscan matching Styles and fighting with an intensity somewhere between that of a full contact sparring match and a full on fight for their lives. Each Style exchange lasted about five minutes more or less, including recovery time, and as the minutes dragged on into hours, Kim found herself pushed hard, but even so, she came out ahead for the most part.

In the animal styles Corscan dominated Kim nearly completely in the ones that played to her strengths and crippled Kim's; Tiger, Bear, and Elephant, but Kim was equally superior in those that played to her own; Leopard and Snake. For the rest, they were close matches in Dragon, Lion, Horse, Crane, and Mantis, and Kim really had to work to neutralize the specific advantage of reach or power, or both, that Corscan had in each individual style, but she managed; sometimes closer than she would have liked, but she did. In the elemental styles Corscan crushed Kim like a bug in Earth, and gave her only a marginal victory in Fire, but Kim dominated in return when it came to Air, and was actually quire surprised to find her Water victory was nearly as close as her Fire victory had been, again reminding her that Corscan was much more agile and supple than her heavy frame would suggest.

Still, it wasn't all serious competition, as Kim got a laugh when Corscan started bouncing and rolling around while scratching herself, slapping her hands on the floor, and pounding her chest, and she had no choice but to raise her hands in defeat while saying; "Sorry, but that's Ron's thing, not mine. I barely know the basics of Monkey Style, and only then because I've seen and fought it so much."

"Well alrighty then." Corscan had deadpanned with a grin in a near perfect Ace Ventura shtick before shifting to Lion Style and continuing on as if nothing had happened.

After going through all the traditional styles Kim knew, it was time for their fifth break, and as Kim went back over to the considerable mess she was making next to her backpack with energy bar wrappers, water bottles, and sweat towels that Corscan had provided as time went on, she thought for the second time that maybe wearing her mission clothes hadn't been such a good idea after all. Even her cargo pants were damp with sweat now, and her shoes were practically starting to squish while she walked. But still, she was really having fun despite the discomfort. Her whole body was tight with the extended exertion, and she was pleasantly numb from the strain, barring the double handful of painful bruises she had collected. The long fighting had brought her close to her full game too, and she was enjoying how everything was falling into place for her, with her tactics, timing, and execution syncing up like they had only a few times in the past, when she was really being pushed by her enemies.

After wiping down, eating another half an energy bar, and drinking another third of her second bottle of water, Kim headed back out to the center of the mats again, and when she arrived, she smiled and said; "So, what is it? About four for you, seven for me, and three that were too close to call?"

"Sounds about right." Corscan answered.

"Soooooo… you give up?" Kim said in a hopeful tone, but not really expecting it—and actually hoping Corscan wasn't done yet as well. She still wanted to see what the big woman could do using her full ability instead of limiting herself to a single Kung Fu style, and she wanted to test herself against the unfamiliar styles she was sure Corscan knew as well. And secretly, deep down, she even wanted the contest to start moving on to the next level that Corscan had pushed so hard for, where the welfare of flesh and bone would be at stake and they were going head-to-head as hard as they could push themselves.

"Yeah, right." Corscan said dryly, the left side of her mouth curling up into a deep smile. Drawing her fingers across the lines of her powerful six-pack abs she held her damp fingertips up to Kim and asked; "This look like blood to you? No? Then we ain't nearly done yet, now are we?"

"Ok then, if you really want me to kick your ass some more, I guess I'll just have to." Kim teased with a smile of her own.

Corscan gave a single short laugh and then shook out the muscles of her arms and legs before bouncing up and down a few times. Then she settled and gave Kim an intense, focused stare unlike any she had seen from her so far tonight. Slowly tensing her muscles to a taunt rigidity, Corscan clenched her fists so tightly her knuckles popped and then she bent her head to either side, cracking her neck sharply. Turning partially side-on to Kim, Corscan raised her arms slightly and bounced on the balls of her feet a few times while her whole mannerism seemed to shift to something else entirely, one that itched in the back of Kim's mind as something she should recognize. Still bouncing, Corscan made a low yowling sound like one of Ron's kiais and snapped her legs back and forth and swayed from side to side in a display of fast footwork while sawing her forearms up and down in short rapid arcs.

Raising her right hand to her face, Corscan dragged the rounded underside of her thumb up the side of her nose before snapping it across the bridge and out to the side while saying; "You can't beat me… I'm Bruce Lee!" in a clipped, rapid tone.

After a brief second's pause trying to fight it and failing, Kim burst into giggling laughter at the display. It was uncanny; the stance, movements, and body language all screamed Bruce Lee; it was like the Dragon was reincarnated in front of her, complete with Ron-like sound effects—albeit much more serious seeming ones.

_Oh that's just low_, Kim thought to herself as she shook her head with a broad grin she just couldn't seem to suppress. _Comedy is _not_ a fair weapon to be using in a fight._

Still, Jeet Kune Do was a much broader style—practically wide open actually if you embraced it's core fundamentals of "take what works for you, dump the rest, and then use it"—and one that formed a heavy foundation of Kim's own blended style. That meant that this next fight should be much more demanding and interesting for the both of them.

Spinning into a quick, sweeping kata, Kim settled into her usual prepared stance, crouching side-on to Corscan with one arm up behind her and the other extended towards the bouncing, swaying woman.

"Just call me the dragon slayer then, _Bruce_." Kim said with a raised eyebrow before motioning Corscan towards her with her two extended fingers. "Bring it."

A split second later Kim was regretting that challenge as she gasped and ducked low and to the side to avoid an unbelievably fast Flying Dragon Kick hurtling through the space her head had been in only an instant beforehand. Even as she recovered, she was falling back in the face of a whirlwind assault of spin, snap, and thrust kicks that came in at all heights from high to low as Corscan immediately renewed her assault the instant she landed. After nearly a half-dozen frantic hops, ducks, and a couple of blocks, Kim was just starting to recover her timing and stance when Corscan blew it out of the water again by abruptly shifting to arm strikes, her combinations of jabs and backfists lashing in with all the blinding speed and power of the Dragon himself, while the yowling kiais that accompanied them began to seriously grate on Kim's hard-pressed nerves.

Gritting her teeth tightly and baring them in a snarl, Kim concentrated on establishing a proper—instead of desperate—defense in the face of the relentless attack. All but the barest pretense of friendly competition remained now; Corscan was really trying to hurt her, and actually had several times. The only thing she hadn't tried yet were moves that could maim or cripple an opponent, but her strikes were coming in at full, if well controlled, power, and even blocking them was hurting Kim a little since she still hadn't recovered her stance and timing enough to use proper deflective blocks instead of outright hard-stop blocks for the most part.

_Damnit! She really _is_ as good as Shego!_ Kim thought before wincing in pain as she failed to block a thrust punch and was tagged hard in the shoulder before she could try and roll with the blow. _Ow! And she _hits harder_ too, funky glowing hands aside!_

Still continuing to retreat, it was nearly a minute of hell before Kim finally got the distance and time she needed to disengage fully, bounding into a series of back and side handsprings that carried her far enough and fast enough away from the pursuing Corscan to get the time to land and establish her full stance once more. This time as Corscan attacked, Kim met her head-on with an aggressive defense, refusing to let the bigger woman put her off her timing again.

Soon Kim was confident enough in the security of her defense to start working towards a counteroffensive. Falling back a little, Kim pulled Corscan's offense forward just as she reversed direction and moved back in towards her, swaying to the right and ducking low under another of Corscan's punches before coming around to the left and back up, inside Corscan's guard. As she straightened, Kim whipped a jabbing right uppercut solidly into the bottom of Corscan's jaw, followed up with a left overhand punch to her face that caught the side of her nose, and then planted her right hand in the other woman's right armpit, grabbed Corscan's right wrist with her left hand and then twisted and bent over, using the momentum from Corscan's advance and the arm lever to flip Corscan completely over her to slam hard and uncontrolled into the floor nearly four feet away from her.

Coming up again, Kim regained her stance immediately, ready to continue or defend as needed, and then half-gasped as she noticed a heavy trickle of blood running down the side of Corscan's face from her mouth and nose along with the fact that the other woman didn't seem to be moving yet. A small voice inside Kim savagely rejoiced in taking the other woman down, another voice screamed at her to be careful, but the biggest, loudest voice drown out the others shouting its concern; this wasn't really a real fight, lives weren't at stake, and she'd just hurt someone she thought she kind of liked.

With a little queasy twist of dread in her stomach, Kim dropped her guard and moved next to Corscan, bending down and asking; "Are you ok?" in a concerned tone. A split second later Kim was literally falling on her ass as she frantically threw herself backwards just in time to escape the grounded kick Corscan snapped up at her head while she was bending over, only narrowly avoiding being completely surprised by the attack.

Even as she landed, Kim scurried away from Corscan awkwardly, moving back on her hands and feet as fast as she could. While she retreated Kim watched Corscan snap her leg down and spin up and around to her feet in a low crouch, facing her. As Kim scrambled to her feet, thinking _what the hell?_ Corscan rose up and swiped the back of her right hand across the side of her face, wiping away the blood. Then she spit a heavy gob of bloody saliva off to the side and dropped into an offensive stance.

"You run over to your enemies an' ask how they're doin' when the world's at stake?" Corscan said disapprovingly before charging Kim.

_All right_, fine, _if _that's_ the way you want it then_ game on! Kim thought with a grim, determined expression falling over her features as she watched Corscan come, fern-green eyes narrowing even as her lips twisted into an aggressive snarl.

Corscan's assault slammed into her like a freight train, but Kim met it head on with a freight train of her own, bobbing and weaving and blocking even as she launched countless blows in return. For the first time tonight Kim truly began to draw on her full ability and reserves, aggressively using her speed and power nearly as brutally as she could, treating Corscan no differently than the myriad of foes that had fallen to her in the last few years. At best Corscan only managed to land one blow in ten now, and most of those were either glancing or Kim rolled with them. For every blow Corscan landed, Kim got three through her guard in return, and soon countless red splotches marred her dark, striped skin, heralding the coming bruises Kim's strikes would be leaving behind.

After nearly five minutes of hammering away at one another and definitely coming out on the losing end by a fair margin, Corscan surprised Kim by quickly disengaging and bouncing away from her in a series of acrobatic moves that carried her across the room to nearly twenty feet away. When she finally came to a stop, Corscan rose in a guarded manner, but took no real stance to speak of, and just watched Kim as they both stood sweating buckets and drawing deep, controlled breaths of air—Kim more on the deep side than the controlled.

"So, you finally ready to give up?" Kim panted out harshly.

"No, but you're ready now." Corscan answered.

"_I'm_ ready?" Kim shot back, annoyed.

"Yes, you're ready. I had to get you to this point, to get you to stop thinkin' of this as anythin' other than a real fight, to prove to you that I could take what you could dish out an' give back just as good; to have you _know_ that, an' to get you mad an' focused just like a real fight. If I hadn't, this would have all been over a few seconds after it started."

"In case you haven't noticed, _I'm_ the one that's been kicking _your_ ass for the last hour now, more or less, and _really_ kicking it for the last ten minutes specifically." Kim snapped back angrily. "But if you _really_ want me to keep going I guess I'll have to."

"You've been kickin' my ass because I've been devotin' so much effort to stayin' within the boundaries of the flawed styles I've been usin' that it's like I'm only half here darlin'. That ends now; you're ready to face my true Form Kim. An' I'm sorry to say, you're ready to start losin'." Corscan responded with a calm yet intense focus.

Kim just scowled at the boastful seeming statements and watched as Corscan dropped into a broad, side-on crouch, standing high on the balls of her feet with her legs slightly bent while she crossed her arms in front of her chest and then drew them past one another, extending her straight left arm towards Kim at a shallow downward angle and folding her right arm back so her hand hovered at her shoulder with the elbow cocked back behind her. The strangest thing about the stance was her hands; she held her fingers spread, but kept the inner and outer two pressed tightly together, like the Vulcan greeting from Star Trek, or as if she had two thick fingers instead of four.

"Attack me if you dare; I will crush you." Corscan intoned with finality.

Kim wasn't sure if Corscan was trying to put her off her game with the arrogance or put her even more on it, but at this point she didn't really care; it was time to finish this. She'd seen enough of the other woman's abilities to know that she could take her down now, even if Corscan did start using her full style; the addition of a few unfamiliar hard styles wouldn't make that much difference, all Kim needed to do was keep her defense up and remember to only use avoidance and deflective blocks while waiting for openings to counter in order to finish the job.

Kim did a brief kata to center herself and once she hit her full stance moved in a quick but controlled rush towards Corscan, intending to initiate a false offensive to draw the other woman out so she could get a feel for her full style before committing to anything.

As Kim launched her first kick, Corscan bent fluidly to the side and avoided it with seeming ease. Coming back in line as Kim followed up with a punch, Corscan bobbed low under the blow and spun in place, whipping her leg around in a sweep that knocked Kim's legs out to the side and sent her spilling towards the floor. Time slowed for the girl, and everything seemed to happen in slow motion from that point on, each moment having crystal clarity to it. Even as Kim was falling, Corscan kept moving, rising up and burying a thrusting knee deep in Kim's stomach. As Kim folded around Corscan's powerful thigh, all the air in her body was blasted out of her, and she felt the impact reverse her downward direction so that she was now hurtling up and away from Corscan. As Kim flew back, Corscan kept attacking, twisting her hips so she was side-on and snapping her bent leg out, hitting Kim in the stomach again with a side thrust blade kick that lifted her even higher into the air.

Time kept crawling along like molasses for Kim as she flew through the air and landed in a tumbling, bouncing heap, the impossibly perfectly executed combination attack having lasted no more than a second at most but seeming an eternity. As Kim lay on her back, stunned and gasping for air that just wouldn't come, she saw Corscan launch herself in a compact leap towards her, her legs drawn up, left arm extended, right arm cocked back with a tight fist held at her shoulder. Kim tried to move, but her body still wouldn't respond, and the big woman descended upon her like a meteor, landing kneeling with her left foot slamming into the mat just under Kim's arm and her right knee hitting on the far side of her chest under the other arm. Even as Corscan hit the floor with a shuddering impact she was thrusting down with her right arm, the incoming punch pistoning towards its target between Kim's eyes before coming to a sudden, perfect stop less than a quarter inch away from it. The wind from the blow hit Kim's face so hard it felt like someone had smacked her lightly with a rolled up newspaper.

Time snapped back to full speed for Kim and she went into gasping, rasping spasms as she tried and failed to make herself breathe over and over again. Even as panic began rising in Kim, Corscan dropped her arm and shifted backward with a squatting step so that she was kneeling over Kim's hips now. Reaching down with a look of concern, Corscan slipped her left hand under Kim's neck and tilted her head back slightly while placing her right hand against Kim's stomach, just under her ribs, and started to press down and then let up at various points in a steady rhythm.

"Come on, that's it; breathe for me Kim, just like that, breathe…" Corscan coaxed calmly, staring intently into Kim's frightened eyes.

Kim again struggled to get a breath in, and relief flooded through her as she finally seemed to succeed slightly now that Corscan was doing whatever it was she was doing to her. As her breathing slowly came back in gasping fits, as soon as she was capable Kim wheezed out; "What— what _was_ that?"

"That… was the sound of me kickin' your ass." Corscan said with a soft smile.

Kim was too happy with being able to breathe again to be very angry over the flip response, so instead she concentrated on that breathing and replaying the events that had gotten her here over and over again in her mind. The attack had been like nothing she had ever seen before; blindingly fast and almost impossibly precise, it had been unbelievably effective—as a matter of fact, Kim was astonished that she wasn't much more injured than she seemed to be.

"Why… why aren't I hurt more?" Kim panted out as she slowly started to breathe normally again.

"Because I know what I'm doin'?" Corscan answered cryptically before she released Kim's neck and let go of her stomach. Offering her right hand to Kim, she continued; "C'mon, you're ok now, let's get you up."

Once Corscan had effortlessly pulled her to her feet, Kim looked up and asked; "So, I thought we weren't supposed to worry about one another now…"

Corscan smiled and replied; "Yeah, well… there's a difference between a fall with some blood an' a punctured lung. I'm not used to fightin' someone all slender like you are, an' I wasn't completely sure I didn't clip a rib there at the end of it."

"All right, just checking." Kim said before she suddenly tightened her grip on Corscan's hand and hopped up, pulling out on Corscan's arm while planting her left foot hard on the front of the woman's right hip, just above her thigh. Straightening out, Kim whipped her right leg in at the side of Corscan's head as fast and as hard as she could from the elevated position—and was shocked as Corscan almost casually caught her incoming attack on a forearm block and stopped it dead. She was even more shocked when Corscan ripped her right arm free of Kim's grip and snapped a hard punch up into her inner thigh only a heartbeat after the kick landed.

Falling back, Kim shoved off with her left leg and sailed through the air in a mostly graceful backflip to land in a controlled stance nearly ten feet away, throbbing agony pulsing up from the inside of her leg where Corscan had so viciously punched her.

"You'll have to do better than that darlin'." Corscan said as Kim glared at her. She was still smiling.

_All right, fine_… Kim thought as she pushed the pain to the back of her mind and ignored it.

Charging forward, Kim initiated a true assault, launching a whirlwind of spinning, snap, and side thrust kicks along with short jabs, backfists, and spinning backfists while springing around Corscan to come at her from a dozen different angles. The big woman weathered the storm with seeming ease, and after a few seconds more blocking, she attacked in return. Kim blocked a left to her head, barely stopped a knee to her chest with both hands, and then, as her guard was lowered and she was being pushed back by the impact, Corscan's right forearm smashed into the side of her face like an only slightly less hard baseball bat.

Staggering back, pain blossomed down Kim's cheek even as little sparkly white outlined black dots danced across her vision and the room seemed to spin and dip around her like an ocean liner in the middle of a hurricane. Stumbling, Kim almost fell down in a heap before she finally managed to regain her balance. Shaking her head to clear it, Kim tried to focus her muddled thoughts and succeeded, quickly looking to Corscan, expecting the other woman to be advancing on her in her current unguarded, weakened state… but Corscan just stood in her original position, watching her. Then she shook her head and sighed softly.

"You're still not gettin' it. The only way you'll have a chance against me is if you don't hold back, not even a little. But I guess you can't believe that unless I prove it to you. Fine…" Corscan said in an aggravated tone.

With that, Corscan abandoned her stance and stood almost casually, turning her right side to Kim and tucking her left arm behind her with her hand in a fist and forearm pressed tight to the small of her back. Then Corscan lifted her right arm out towards Kim and gestured her forward with a finger wave before twisting her wrist and assuming the odd, joined fingers position she used with the blade of her hand angled upright and facing Kim.

It took Kim a few seconds to recognize the pose—Neo from the hallway scene with Agent Smith at the end of The Matrix—but once she did fury shot through her, hot and sharp. So she'd been taken down once and her guard broken twice, suffering hard hits, but there was no way she was going to put up with this humiliation. She was Kim Possible, the girl that could do anything, not some little kid, and now, she was going to teach this arrogant, uppity woman just exactly what that meant.

Shooting across the room like lighting, Kim growled as she slammed into Corscan with all the speed and fury she could muster, no longer caring if she hurt the other woman, and in fact mostly trying to do some real damage now. Kim struck hard and with all the focused power and speed she could muster, lashing out with strikes against weak points like joints and nerve clusters, targeting Corscan's sides and back, trying to break bones and shatter cartilage, and using as much brutality as she could with her blows to other less vulnerable places, swinging at full force in order to do the most tissue damage possible.

And it didn't work.

Oh, Corscan certainly wasn't as impossibly fast as Neo, and she had to actually pay attention to Kim and occasionally use her leg to block a low strike Kim sent in, but for the most part, Corscan evaded, deflected, or power-blocked every attack Kim launched at her with just one arm, tracking and turning easily with Kim every time she flipped over or sprang to the side of her in order to try and come in at another less defended angle. Then Corscan started counterattacking—while still defending, and still just using her right arm. Sharp, hard blows with a fist that didn't do any serious damage, but hurt like hell, or brutal palm strikes that were designed more to shove Kim back and break her rhythm than actually hurt her—though they certainly did that as well.

And through it all, Kim felt her rage over the indignity and frustration growing, threatening to overwhelm her, but she bent all her considerable willpower to focusing, harnessing, and using it instead, absolutely determined to break through Corscan's guard as well as establishing one of her own and showing the other woman that she would _not_ be treated this way; that despite her losing ground now, she wasn't done, she wasn't going to curl up and die, and she was most definitely _not_ going to lose this fight.

Kim dug down deep inside herself, pulling out all the stops and using her full reserves to push harder and harder. She reached for more speed, and found it; she struggled for more power, and achieved it. She pulled and dug and drew more and more of herself into the battle, focusing every ounce of determination and purpose she had on winning; refusing to fail, refusing to accept even the _possibility_ of failure.

Pushing herself past anything she had ever achieved before, Kim seemed to enter some kind of fugue state as bit by bit, everything else dropped away from her. There was no more Kim. There was no more Corscan. There was no world outside. There was no room inside. All there was was her opponent and the fight that had become the sole focus of her entire being. Thought flowed seamlessly into action with no delay or hesitation, timing and technique came into perfect synch without effort, and Kim stepped up to a whole new level of ability she hadn't known she was capable of until this very moment. Time seemed to slow, and Kim executed every attack and block perfectly with the eternity she had to carry each of them out in; she had all the time in the world to implement her technique and tactics, and she was thinking at least five moves ahead now.

And slowly, bit-by-bit, Corscan _turned_. At first, there was a widening of her eyes in surprise as she suddenly had to put more and more effort into maintaining her guard, growing even greater as she found that she was no longer able to counter, so pressed was her defense by Kim. Then, a look of determined concentration as she had to put more and more effort and focus on maintaining that defense in the face of Kim's evolving ability, until finally, that defense broke as Corscan was forced to twist and snap her left arm out from behind her to block a high kick from Kim before it hit her in the chest. And once that defense was broken, Kim kept it broken, pushing even harder and forcing Corscan to use her full body to keep from being hit by Kim's relentless onslaught.

Strangely enough, as Kim continued to press Corscan with her furious offensive, some remote part of her noted that as the surprise dropped away from Corscan's features, it was replaced by a tight smile and a look of approving admiration… and… though Kim wasn't sure it was really there or she was imagining it… an inexplicable sense of… pride, shining from deep within Corscan's gold-flecked hazel eyes.

And then, Kim's world turned upside down again as she found herself staggering back from a twin thrust punch Corscan slipped through her guard after a series of blocks, the attack seemingly made with ease despite the perfect focus and new level of ability Kim had achieved.

Shaking off the pain, Kim threw herself back into the fray; it was just a lucky strike… until it happened again… this time with a knee to the solar plexus that stunned her enough that she was wide open for the left forearm strike Corscan threw into the side of her head.

Once more Kim recovered and suppressed the pain, and once more she threw herself back into the fight… and established the pattern. Time and time again Kim came in at Corscan and time and time again Kim found herself staggering back, reeling to the side, or slammed into the floor by a strike, combination, or counter of Corscan's—sometimes mere moments after she attacked. As the stinging, throbbing, aching pain of her growing injuries began to add up, Kim reached for more inside herself, but this time, she found nothing; there was no more for her to draw upon. And from there, it was all inevitably downhill. One by one her reserves slowly dwindled and gave out; first her speed, taking with it her altered time sense, then her strength, taking with it her ease of motion, and finally her stamina, taking with it her ability to easily endure the pain she was experiencing.

Soon just standing on her feet without staggering was a task unto itself, and Kim felt like a thousand jagged glass knives were slicing through her burning lungs while a rusty iron railroad spike twisted in her side every time she breathed. The room seemed to sway around her constantly now, and exhaustion pulled her entire body down towards the floor like she was made of lead. Worse, she was starting to crash from the near constant adrenaline rush she'd been experiencing for at least five or ten minutes now, if not longer, and with that crash came a hollow sense of despair and helplessness over her situation. She hurt and ached and throbbed all over now, as if her whole body was one big bruise, and her muscles burned with effort just trying to maintain her barely passable stance.

Still, Kim refused to surrender; she held herself up with sheer stubborn willpower and moved forward once more by force of will alone, pushing herself to engage Corscan again. Only this time she never made it as her trembling legs collapsed under her and she went sprawling on the mat. Trying to draw herself up, Kim was confused that she couldn't do more than sit half upright, with her legs folded to the side of her while leaning forward and supporting herself with her arms.

Looking up after trying to stand and failing once more, Kim saw Corscan standing about eight feet away from her. Dozens of green, purple, and blue-black bruises marred her otherwise flawless, striped tan skin, her right cheek and the side of her nose were swollen, and the tight wrappings covering the back of her right hand were stained red with blood, all testament to Kim's success earlier in the night. Rivulets of sweat trickled down her slick hide, and she was breathing deep and heavy, but… it was still controlled, sill regular, and she still held her strange stance with only the hint of a tremble or effort maintaining it. She was obviously hurt and tired, but… it was also obvious to Kim that she was still strong, still ready to continue for a long time more if that's what she had to do.

Kim mewed in the back of her throat and her eyes watered as she tried to deny the voice inside her that was telling her what she had to do, stubbornly refusing to accept it. But, that voice grew stronger and stronger as inevitably Kim could no longer ignore the truth of her situation. She felt like she was breaking inside, she wanted to scream over what was happening, she wanted to crawl off under the covers with her Pandaroo and cry. But she wouldn't. Couldn't. She still had some pride left. A little bit anyway.

Her head sagging back down, Kim looked at the blue floor in front of her forlornly and spoke the words she never believed she would ever say to anyone in her life.

"I—" Kim choked, and grimly clamped down on her emotions, forcing herself to get control and refusing to cry like a little girl. "I give up. You're… you're better than me. I can't beat you."

"Are you sure?" Corscan's voice was strangely soft, almost caring in the way she asked. Kim didn't know why, but for some reason it made her feel a little better—a little.

"Yes. You win. I can't even stand up on my own…"

Kim felt more than saw Corscan come out of her stance and pad over to where she was sitting, but she looked up again just as Corscan squatted down next to her.

"Good." Corscan said as she put her right hand on Kim's left shoulder and held her other hand in front of Kim in an offering of assistance. "I was startin' to get worried there near the end…"

Kim took Corscan's hand and let the other woman help her back to her feet while saying; "_You_ were getting worried?" incredulously.

"Yeah, I was startin' to think I'd have to break one of your legs or somethin' in order to stop you from killin' yourself with exhaustion. You just would _not_ give up, you kept throwin' yourself at me over an' over again, long past when I thought you'd'a given up—or at least passed out from exhaustion." Corscan said with a smile as she started to lead Kim over to her backpack.

"Humph. Fat lot 'a good it did me." Kim said sullenly.

"Hey, don't be like that; you did somethin' incredible here tonight." Corscan responded.

"You don't understand; this is what I do; it's who I am… and… this is the first time I've ever been beaten. You didn't just win a fight; I've lost fights before, and if that was all it was I'd be ok with it… but… you _beat_ me. If this had been life and death I'd be dead right now. If the world were at stake you'd be happily installing yourself as Empress or Queen or The Supreme One or something like that while I was rotting in some dungeon somewhere. So please, don't tell me how good I did for giving my all and not giving up 'til you actually ground me into the dirt, because I am so not in the mood for it, ok?" Kim finished bitterly.

Corscan grunted and stepped in front of Kim, turning back to the girl and stopping her.

"Hey, look at me."

When Kim kept staring off to the side at the floor sullenly, Corscan let go of her arm, brought both hands up to grasp the sides of Kim's head just above her neck, and then gently but firmly forced the girl to look up at her. Kim tried to resist, tried to pull back or move Corscan's hands away from her face, but she was still too weak, and just ended up hanging off the other woman's thickly muscled forearms helplessly while the rough cloth of Corscan's hand wrappings scratched at the base of her jaw.

Looking down into Kim's eyes intently, Corscan continued; "I want you to _listen_ to me here Kim; _really_ listen to me, understand? What you did here tonight was unbelievable… it was… it was _magnificent_. The only reason you can't see it is because you don't have a clue what you were up against. I don't know a few dozen styles that I've integrated like you do Kim; I only know _one_ style; _the_ style. The one style from which all the other flawed styles flow. )_The Way_(."

Kim looked back into Corscan's eyes with a sharp focus now as her brow furrowed, puzzling over what the other woman was telling her.

"But… you used all the styles I knew. We spent over an hour sticking to each of the single forms doing it." Kim said, confused.

"Yeah, an' _you_ know how to crawl an' walk even though you know how to run too, right? It's sorta the same way with me Kim. Because I know )_The Way_(, I know how to do the flawed styles too—_all_ of them. Every style ever conceived, every style that ever _will_ be conceived, I can do them _all_ just by watchin' for a while an' learnin' how I need to gimp myself to crawl along with them."

Kim's eyes grew wide as she finally realized what Corscan was saying. _She knows_… _she knows_ every _style? But that's_…_ that's impossible. Isn't it?_ Kim thought, before another voice countered; _How else could she have beaten you?_

"Exactly," Corscan said as she watched the comprehension dawn in Kim's eyes. Moving her hands down to Kim's shoulders she continued; "You _shouldn't_ have stood a chance against me Kim. I _should_ have been able to take care of you like a high school jock can take care of his six-year-old brother. But I didn't. I actually had to pay attention to what I was doin' with you. I actually had to _concentrate_ to hold you off completely like that without really hurtin' you. You took everythin' you knew an' combined it perfectly, droppin' everythin' that was flawed an' usin' what you were left with as best it could be used. It was like you somehow knew what you were up against an' instinctively tried to copy it. Watchin' it happen was… incredible. Just… incredible."

It was more the light in Corscan's eyes and the open admiration in her voice that was swaying Kim rather than her words, but even so, Kim couldn't help but ask dubiously; "I really did that? Really made you work for it? You're not just saying that to try and make me feel better?"

Corscan's smile deepened and she raised an eyebrow sardonically while asking; "Do I _seem_ like the kind of woman that would say somethin' just to make you feel better?"

"Well ummm… yes? I kinda think you would." Kim replied with a shy smile and a faint blush while looking down again.

Corscan snorted once and answered; "Well, ok, so maybe you're right. But I'm not doin' it now, ok? You really did impress the hell outta me tonight. Really. Now come on, let's go. You need to get some food an' water into you before you pass out."

" 'K." Kim responded as Corscan began to lead her over to her backpack once more. Once they got there Corscan squatted down and retrieved Kim's latest bottle of water and the remaining half of her last energy bar. Standing up, Corscan handed them both to Kim and then watched her as she slowly ate the bar and drank the rest of her water.

While Corscan watched her, Kim tried to concentrate on the simple task instead of thinking about what had happened, but she was less than successful. The fact that she lost was still hard to take, and Kim's mind was racing a million miles a minute replaying and analyzing everything that had happened, stubbornly trying to figure out how she could have done better, what she should have done differently in order to have won, but it all came out to the same no matter what she came up with; Corscan was right, there was no way she could have won. But strangely enough, the more her thoughts ran circles in her head, the better Kim felt about it. If Corscan really _did_ know some sort of super-style that incorporated the best of every other style there was, then she _had_ done far better than she had any right to do. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more Kim realized that this fight had pushed her to the best performance of her young life; had shown her a whole new level of ability that she hadn't known she was capable of, hadn't even thought was possible.

Finishing off the last of her water, Kim lowered the bottle and looked to Corscan. After a moment the other woman smiled and asked; "So, you feelin' better now?"

"Yeah, I think am, thank you Cor— ooh!" Kim cut off abruptly as she suddenly realized she might be feeling better, but now that she was relaxed, there was a very _pressing_ matter that needed her attention. With a hint of a blush on her cheeks and a slight stammer, Kim quickly continued; "Ahhh, Corscan, you mentioned a bathroom when I came in earlier tonight?"

Corscan gave a little laugh and pointed to the left hand door of the long room they were standing next to. "Right in there darlin'," she said with an amused grin. "If you want, you can take a shower an' clean up too."

"Ummm, thank you, maybe I will." Kim said very quickly while bending down, setting her water bottle on the floor, and grabbing her backpack before rushing through the door Corscan had indicated. Once inside, Kim turned, snapped on the lights, and shut the door behind her before coming to a dead stop despite the urgency of her need, such was her reaction to the cavernous bathroom she found herself in.

Like everything else she had seen, the room continued the wood motif Corscan seemed to favor, this time combining darker woods with beautiful satin-finish tile in various shades of tan and gleaming gold fixtures. There was a long linen cabinet on her right, and across from it was an equally long counter with two large sinks and a full wall mirror above it. In the middle of the room, past the linen closet, a tan toilet and bidet stood against the right wall, across from an elaborate series of open racks and shelves on the left wall that held a huge variety of toiletries, washcloths, and towels. Last but not least, an enormous walk-in tiled shower and a raised Jacuzzi tub took up the entire far end of the room, with the shower on the left and Jacuzzi on the right.

"Wow," Kim murmured before shaking her head sharply and hurrying over to the toilet. After she had finished her business, Kim ran into another problem when she couldn't find any toilet paper. After an increasingly fretful search Kim finally realized the bidet wasn't an option, but rather a requirement.

"Well, guess this is something else I'll be adding to my list of things I can do." Kim said to herself with a smile as she stepped all the way out of her pants, moved over to the bidet, and cautiously settled onto it. After a series of goosey, jerky starts, Kim finally got used to both the foot pedal controls and the sensation of the water flows, all the while giggling up a storm—it was pretty obvious to Kim that she was just a little punchy from exhaustion and pain now.

Just as Kim was finishing up her cleaning she looked down and saw a very discreet toilet paper dispenser that was at floor height and only just shy of being behind the toilet.

"Oh poo!" Kim grumped before grinning like an idiot over the pun she had made. "Oh yeah, you're definitely getting silly here Kim," she continued to herself. "Oh well, too late to bother with it now."

Finally finishing up, Kim stood and glanced at her grotty, sweat-soaked cargo pants lying crumpled on the floor before turning and taking a much longer and longing look at the huge shower that seemed to be calling to her invitingly. A few minutes of investigation later and Kim was biting her lip and whining with regret as she turned away from the shower and grabbed a washcloth and towel from a rack and headed for the sink instead. As wonderful as the idea of stepping into a shower that was half the size of her entire bathroom at home was—with _three_ shower heads and a massager no less—she couldn't bring herself to use any of the extensive and very _expensive_ looking shampoos and body washes that seemed to be the only thing Corscan had in her bathroom—in yet _more_ glass bottles no less.

Running the water, Kim stripped off the rest of her sweat-soaked clothes until she was completely naked and then filled the sink, wet and wrung out her washcloth, and started the process of quickly wiping herself down. It wasn't a shower, but it was good enough.

As she worked, Kim took stock of herself in the mirror. Most of her body was more or less one large mass of swollen bruises now, but surprisingly there was very little damage other than that. There were a few painful knots on the sides and back of her head, and her left cheek was swollen from the forearm strike she'd taken, but overall, she wasn't nearly as hurt as she thought she should be. Yet again, Kim wondered how Corscan had pounded on her with such brutal strikes and left so little damage behind.

Once Kim had finished cleaning off, she got her backpack and put it on the counter before digging out her comb and brush. Undoing her hair, Kim gave it a few dozen strokes with each before deciding it was too much of a limp, sweat-damp mess to do anything else with but put it back up in the ponytail. After that she pulled out the clothes she had worn to school and put them on before packing her mission clothes away in the bottom of her backpack with her shoes on top so they wouldn't get her homework wet. Lastly Kim put the towel and washcloth in a nearby hamper before leaving the bathroom.

Back in the main room, Kim saw that Corscan had cleaned up all traces of the mess they had made, as well as herself apparently, since although her clothes looked the same, she must have changed them considering they were dry now, as was she. Mostly anyway, since to Kim's amazement, Corscan was in the middle of going through a strenuous kata on the central mat, and had worked up a faint sheen of sweat once more.

As Corscan continued the elaborate kata Kim watched her carefully, marveling at the fluidity of the movements despite the sheer power and brutality the strikes carried. This was obviously Corscan's true style, and now that Kim was watching it from the outside instead of fighting it head on, she was impressed that she was still even in one piece, let alone that she'd done so well against it. Which after a moment Kim realized was seriously weird for her, given how much she normally hated to lose, so it was even more proof that she actually had accomplished something good tonight despite losing in the end.

A minute or two later Corscan finished the kata and turned to Kim, walking over to where the girl stood on the sidelines.

"So, do you ever stop?" Kim said with a smile.

"Not really, no." Corscan grinned.

"Corscan, would you please tell me how come I'm not hurt?"

"You look pretty hurt to me." Corscan joked.

"I mean why I'm not really hurt badly. Unless I'm imagining things, you were waling on me pretty hard while we were fighting, and all I've got are a collection of admittedly very painful bruises, but nothing else, and it doesn't make any sense."

"Force transference." Corscan said simply.

"Ummm, and that would be?" Kim asked, still in the dark.

Corscan gave a single laugh in the back of her throat and said; "Come on, it's easier to show you than to explain," before leading Kim over to the wall. "Stand with your back to the wall an' bend your knees a little so you're pressed up against it all the way, ok?"

Kim set her backpack down and did what Corscan asked her to do. Once she was in position Corscan moved in front of her and did a quick centering kata before settling into her odd stance.

"Oh yeah, this'll hurt too. You up to takin' one more punch from me?" Corscan asked with a mischievous smile.

"Heh… I've taken so many tonight, what's one more?" Kim laughed back.

"All right then, get ready."

Kim braced herself, tensing her abs, pushing back against the wall, and keeping her arms at her sides, trying to relax and prepare for the blow while keeping a tight control on her instincts so she wouldn't flinch or try and block. Once she was ready, Kim gave a tight nod to Corscan, and the big woman nodded back before she spent a few moments preparing herself. Then with a sharp kiai Corscan slammed her fist into Kim's stomach, hard and fast.

Kim folded into the blow ever so slightly, and the power of it hurt and drove a little air out of her, despite her tensed stomach, but once again Kim was sure she wasn't hurt nearly as much as she should be given the violence of the strike. At the same time the blow hit however, Kim also felt more than heard a hard thump from the wall behind her, and felt a sharp force in the small of her back from the heavy wooden paneling, as if it had bounced or something.

"An' there you go," Corscan said, abandoning her stance and moving back from Kim.

Kim coughed once and then stood up and stepped away from the wall.

"Well, that was cool and all—not to mention painful—but I still don't get it." Kim said.

"Look at the wall."

Kim nodded and turned, looking at the wall panel behind her carefully. A moment later she bent over and moved in close as she thought she saw something. From her new vantage point Kim saw that there was a hairline crack in the panel now, and running her fingers over the area, she detected a very shallow dent in the wood, vaguely the same size as a fist.

"Is this… what I think it is?" Kim said, looking back at Corscan.

"Yep."

Kim straightened and turned back to Corscan. "But how did you do it?"

"You ever see one of those little desk toys with the suspended steel ball bearings? The ones where you pull one up an' drop it an' then the one on the other end jumps up an' it keeps going back and forth?" Corscan asked, and Kim nodded.

"Well, it's just like that; force transference. It's an advanced technique of )_The Way_(. Normally it's used the other way around, when facin' someone in armor; you send the force of your blows travelin' through the armor to bypass its protection an' hit 'em hard on the inside, but, against an unarmored opponent, you can use it to pass most of the impact through them instead of into them. Or if you're really, really good, an' really nasty, it can be used to bypass the protection of bone an' hit the heart an' lungs inside the chest. True masters of the technique can even use it to bypass muscle an' hit bone or internal organs with the full force of blows."

"Wow." Kim said, impressed. "So, )the way(, that's the name of your style is it?" Kim winced as she realized how much she'd butchered the pronunciation of what she thought was a Chinese name, but Corscan just smiled and spent the next minute or so coaching her until she could say it right.

"Yep, that's it." Corscan said, once Kim finally had it down.

"Well I gotta say, this )_The Way_( seems like a totally spankin' style, but, I know a _lot_ about martial arts, and I've never even heard of it before. If it's as good as it seems to be, why doesn't everyone know it?"

"Heh, well, for one, it's kinda like bein' in a secret club. The handful of masters that practice )_The Way_( are beyond picky about who they teach it to an' who they tell about it. Y'know, the kind of picky that involves blood feuds an' huntin' down every last livin' member of a bloodline an' makin' them not livin' if a student proves themselves unworthy? That kind of picky. Then there's the fact that learnin' )_The Way_( can be hazardous to your health all by itself. Even folks that're really skilled in the flawed styles usually can't handle the trainin'. An' by 'can't handle' I mean survive without cripplin' or killin' themselves."

"Oh, I see. Yeah, I suppose that would make it pretty secret then." Kim said. "Ahhh, if you don't mind my asking, how exactly did you learn it?"

"Friends in high places." Corscan replied cryptically.

When no further answer was forthcoming, Kim just studied Corscan for a long while before she came to a decision. Hesitantly, Kim asked; "Corscan, could you… I mean; would you be willing to… teach it to me?"

Corscan smiled as she studied Kim in return for a bit before replying; "I suppose I could try. I haven't ever tried to teach anyone )_The Way_( before, so I can't really say if I can do it or not, but yeah, I could try. That is of course assumin' you'll want to have anythin' to do with me afterwards…"

"What do you mean?" Kim asked, confused.

"Well, you've still got a debt to pay me, now don't you?"

"Oh, yeah, that." Kim couldn't believe that she had forgotten all about that part of the deal she had made with Corscan. "Well, it can't really be that bad. What do you want me to do anyway?"

This time it was Corscan's turn to look hesitant. "Ahhh… I'm not sure if this is the best time to go into that. Maybe in a few days when you've had time to recover…"

"What? No, I'm feeling fine now Corscan, really."

"I don't know… I think—"

Kim reached out and took hold of Corscan's arm as she interrupted her. "Please Corscan, it's bad enough that I lost tonight; don't leave this hanging over my head too, I don't think I could stand it."

Corscan looked down into Kim's big, pleading fern-green eyes and hesitated, a strange play of emotion shifting through her gold-flecked hazel eyes in return. Then she turned towards Kim and softly sighed before saying; "All right then. It's really very simple Kim. I want you."

_Yeah, yeah, c'mon, stop dragging it out already! Just tell me; you want me to do what?_ Kim was still mentally prodding Corscan along when the big woman leaned in, slipped her left arm around Kim's waist and pulled her close while taking the back of her neck in her right hand. Kim's eyes grew wide as saucers as Corscan tilted her head back and claimed her lips in a deep and deeply sensual kiss.


	9. But I'm a Cheerleader – Cracking the Dam

**If this story is on your alert list and you keep getting new chapter alerts for this chapter, skip to the end to find out why.**

* * *

For the briefest of instants, as Kim stood floating on the twilight threshold between her utter shock and regaining her thoughts, she… relaxed, ever so slightly into Corscan's soft warmth, and a small, almost nonexistent groan of pleasure died newly born in the back of her throat as her mind finally caught up to what was happening to her and a cacophony of voices rose up in her head.

_I can't believe Ron was right,_ one voice idly commented while another panicked; _Oh my god oh my god oh my god; she's kissing me! Wha'doIdo? Wha'doIdo? Wha'doIdo? _Further back, a strangely serene corner of Kim's mind noted; _Wow, this is a really great kiss,_ while another freaked out in a non-specific manner; _Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy crap!_ But above it all, the loudest voice shouted out; What_, in the_ hell, _does she think she's_ doing?

Finally thought sparked action and Kim started to push Corscan away from her in objection, but as she shoved Corscan back—or more precisely, shoved herself away from Corscan, since the big woman didn't move an inch—the kiss melted away like a warm summer mist as Corscan ended it, and Kim slipped from her arms effortlessly to end up several feet away.

"Wha— what are you… you don't mean… you _can't_ mean!" Kim stammered, still semi-incoherent from the shock.

"Can an' do darlin'," Corscan smiled, "can an' do. After all, I _did_ say your ass was mine if you lost. Not my fault you didn't take me at my word."

Despite everything she had done over the last few years, putting her life in danger time after time going up against Drakken's callous disregard for lives, Monkey Fist's mad obsession and his predisposition to try and hurt her best friend over her, Duff Killigan's psychotic brutality, and Shego's infuriating attitude, Kim Possible had never once actually seen red before, but as she stood in front of Corscan sputtering and stuttering word-like sounds in a remarkable impression of Drakken as her mental circuit breakers blew one-by-one in succession, a faint crimson haze descended across Kim's vision like a mist, and moments later she launched herself at Corscan with a shrieking, primal roar of outrage.

Unfortunately for Kim, blind, unthinking fury tended to make one… well, blind and unthinking. In this case, it was reflected in the fact that attacking a woman who not more than twenty minutes ago had gotten you to admit you didn't stand a chance against her physically was rather an exercise in futility. Despite her rage-triggered adrenalin boost, Kim quickly found herself bent over with one arm twisted high behind her back and the other held out to the side while Corscan crouched over her, forcing the side of her face into the mat beneath her. Kim struggled in vain while screaming and growling incoherently, but her temporary energy boost rapidly deserted her, and a short time later she grew still and silent, her face flushed brightly and chest heaving as she panted heavily.

"So, you calm now?" Corscan asked.

"No, calm is most definitely _not_ what I'm feeling now!" Kim growled out.

"Fair enough. Are you in control then?"

"Yeeesssss, I'm in control." Kim hissed back through clenched teeth.

"All right then." Corscan said as she let Kim go and helped her up.

Knocking Corscan's hands away from her, Kim stepped away and glared at her before nearly shouting; "You can't seriously think that I'd ever agree to… to _that_! There's no way I'd _ever_ do something like that!"

"Well then you should have thought of that beforehand, because that's exactly what you _did_ agree to. I _asked_ you if there was anythin' else you weren't willin' to do. Twice." Corscan stated calmly in the face of Kim's ire.

"But I never thought… I mean, how could I have possibly… you _can't_ expect me to… I won't do _that_! I won't! And you can't make me!" Kim was so angry—and equally mortified—that she couldn't even bring herself to say what she was talking about.

"You're right, I can't _make_ you do anythin' Kim—well, I mean, I suppose we've established that I actually _could_, but fortunately for you I'm not a sociopath. But I most certainly _can_ expect you to honor your _word_. You made an agreement, an' I _do_ expect you to keep the promise you made. An' that promise was that for one day, you would do _anythin'_ I wanted, so long as it wasn't illegal, wasn't sure to get you hurt or killed, an' didn't involve hurtin' anyone that didn't have it comin'. So while it's true that _I_ can't make you do it, _your_ obligation can, an' it will. If you have any integrity anyway."

"But… but…" Kim couldn't believe that she was having an ethical argument about having sex with someone—some _woman_—she'd only known for four days—let alone that she somehow seemed to be _losing_ that argument. Desperate, Kim's mind latched onto one specific thing in Corscan's statement. "Wait! Ha! That's it! Illegal; I don't have to do anything illegal! And I'm only sixteen, so I can't do this because I'm underage, so there!"

"Not in this State." Corscan replied calmly.

"Wha-hunh?"

"You really need to read up on your laws Kim. The age of consent's only sixteen in Georgia. An' it's only sixteen where I'll be taking you this Friday to collect. An' even if it weren't, well, fourteen in Canada, fifteen in France, sixteen in most of Australia… I could go on, but you get the point. You want off on a technicality then you'll have to do a whole lot better than that. An' just in case you do think of it, I already got myself tested for STDs an' have medical proof that I'm clean, so you can't get me for 'doin' somethin' guaranteed to get'cha hurt' either." Corscan concluded with an infuriating smile.

Despite her anger Kim couldn't help blushing at the implications of Corscan's conclusion, but still she forged ahead, trying a different tack. "Look Corscan, I guess under different circumstances this might be flattering, but even if I were the kind of girl who would think it was… even if I would do something like that, I'm not… I mean I don't like… so even if I would, I can't, y'see?"

"So we've reached the ramblin' stage, have we?" Corscan replied. "Well Kim, you might make the choice to go back on your word, but that's what it'll be; your _choice_, because contrary to what my numerous detractors would have you believe, I'm _not_ a vicious, sadistic bitch, an' I would _never_ have gone down this road if I didn't know you were… open, to the possibilities, at the very least."

Kim's eyes narrowed sharply. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm a woman of many talents Kim, but most of them, I've had to train an' work at very, very hard in order to develop them as well as I have. But there's one thing I've always been good at, one thing I see as my own unique talent, an' that's readin' people. Even when I was little I could tell things about people just by watchin' them. As I got older an' developed that talent through experience an' trainin', it just got better an' better. In another time an' place, I'd have probably gone to Quantico an' be working for the FBI as their top profiler now."

"What does that have to do with me?"

"It's got everythin' to do with you darlin', an' the signs I've been readin' since we first met. The way you reacted to my presence; a slight dilation of your pupils, the way your breathin' increased an' your nostrils flared just a hair when you caught my scent, the faint blush reaction you had when I stroked my fingertips down the palm of your hand an' across your fingers after we shook hands, the way you looked at me an' away while we talked, the way your body language was while we were together—especially when we were alone—an' the way it changed when I altered my own to test your reactions," Corscan paused for a moment before continuing, "an' the way that, just for a moment, you almost melted into me a few minutes ago before your conscious mind caught up to your reactions. You are definitely open to the possibilities."

"You don't mean… I mean you can't mean… you think that I'm…" Kim was so flabbergasted that she couldn't speak. _Of all the _arrogant, egotistical, stuck-up, conceited… _who the _hell_ does she think she is?_ Kim raged in her head, flushed and almost trembling with anger once more, and very hard pressed to keep in control.

"You're crazy lady." Kim growled out as she stalked over to her backpack and snatched it off the floor roughly. "Absolutely, completely crazy. And there's no way in hell I'm talking about this any more; I'm going home now, and you can take your 'insight' and obligations and shove them, because this is never going to happen in a million years."

Corscan watched Kim as she walked toward the exit. "Your choice to break your promise Kim, an' you'll have to live with it, but I won't take no for an answer right now."

Kim turned and glared at Corscan. "Is that a threat?" she almost snarled.

"Nope. I just won't accept an answer until you've had some time to think about this. Even if you hadda jumped into my arms eagerly I'd'a still made you wait. I don't want you decidin' this on a spur of the moment emotional reaction, I want you to think about it seriously before you decide what you can an' can't live with, one way or the other. So I _will_ be callin' you Thursday to confirm our… date, for Friday—or not, as you choose."

"Well you don't need to bother, because my answer will damn well be the same damn one I'm giving you now!" Kim shouted before whirling and storming out the door.

"Talk to you soon Kim." Corscan said as the door was closing behind Kim.

Out in the hall, Kim spun around in time to catch a last glimpse of Corscan between the closing doors, calmly watching her go with a soft smile on her lips, before the doors slid shut with a muted hiss. Desperate for some kind of release, Kim threw back her head and screamed her frustration out at the top of her lungs. Lowering her head and turning away from the door, Kim saw the guard she had missed as she was coming out staring at her nonplussed. Given the mood she was in, Kim didn't react well at all.

"_What are you looking at?_" Kim snapped.

"Ahhh, nothing, nothing at all ma'am. I'm supposed to escort you to the plane when you're ready to leave." The guard replied.

"Well, get on with it then." Kim growled.

"Right this way ma'am." The guard responded, turning and heading up the hallway. A second later Kim followed along behind him.

A half-hour later Kim was in the air and pacing up and down the aisle of the Excalibur jet, still too worked up to think straight, let alone sit still. She spent nearly the entire rest of the flight pacing and muttering and fuming to herself between short bouts of sitting and trying to calm down before shooting to her feet once more and beginning the process all over again. It was only as the flight was nearing Middleton that her anger had finally burned itself out to the point where she could sit and stew quietly.

Once on the ground, the drive back to her house was thankfully quiet and uneventful, and Kim had finally relaxed to the point where she was able to remember to thank Raoul for the ride before she headed inside. By then it was nearly ten o'clock at night, and Kim went around the back so that she could come in by the kitchen and scavenge up some leftovers before heading upstairs.

Coming in the back door, Kim took off her jacket and hung it up before setting her backpack on the kitchen table and heading for the fridge to see what her options were. Bending over, Kim loaded up on fast-food containers, Tupperware, and saran wrapped dishes. Then she lugged the pile over to the counter next to the microwave before turning and getting a tray to take everything up to her room on.

As Kim was preoccupied with heating her dinner, she failed to notice her mother come into the kitchen still wearing her hospital togs and reading a medical journal, so the first sign of her being there was Ann warmly saying; "Hi Kimmie, looks like it's a late night for both us girls, eh?"

"Hunh? Oh, hi mom. Yeah, I guess so." Kim answered idly, still staring at the microwave as if to urge it on in heating her food.

"So did you have a nice day at school today?" Ann asked.

"Humm? Yeah, I guess so. Ron got in trouble again and Mr. Barkin came down hard on him this time. He got a week's detention and a ton of extra homework for the next two days."

"Awww, the poor dear. I think anyway. I assume it was just his usual antics, right Kimmie?"

"Yep. He tripped in the cafeteria and sent a tray flying into one of the seniors and… well, let's just say they'll probably still be scraping mozzarella off the walls at the end of the week." Kim replied.

"Well, as long as it wasn't really his fault I can sympath—" Ann's voice cut off abruptly before she continued in a sharper, worried tone. "Oh my word! Kimmie, what happened to you?"

"Hunh?" Kim turned to see her mom staring at her with concern, the medical journal hanging forgotten in her hand. "What do you mean mom?"

"You've got a long contusion on your cheek, and, are those bruises all across your stomach?"

"Oh, that." Kim said with chagrin. She had actually been so distracted by what had happened with Corscan that she'd forgotten all about her collection of injuries. "No big mom, just the same ol' same ol'."

"Well 'same ol' same ol' ' or not I want you to come over here so I can check you for a concussion, since I'm sure you didn't see anyone for it, now did you?"

"Mom, I'm fine, really." Kim groused.

"Kimmie. Sit." Ann said firmly.

Kim sighed and headed over to the chair Ann had pulled out in front of her and sat down. "Fine mom, but I'm telling you I'm ok."

"I'll be the judge of that Kimmie." Ann replied, pulling out her penlight before continuing; "You know the drill."

Ann checked Kim's pupils, felt around her head for any irregularities and discovered the other knots Kim had collected, along with reminding Kim they were there with pain sharp enough to make her wince with a sharp "Ow! Mom!" and finally she carefully examined Kim's swollen cheek before taking a more general look at Kim's heavily bruised stomach, poking and prodding at it in several places and eliciting more complaints from Kim.

"Well, it looks like there's nothing wrong with you but some superficial damage Kimmie. Are you sure you haven't got any sharp or tearing pains in your stomach or difficulty breathing?"

"No mom. I know what a broken rib feels like, remember?" Kim grumbled.

"Well when you get a medical degree of your own you can diagnose yourself young lady, but until then I want you to get yourself checked out by a professional when you get hurt like this. You can't just ignore these things and take risks with your health Kimmie."

Kim sighed and said "Sorry mom, I will." contritely.

"Now, how did all this happen anyway? Did you get into another fight with Shego, or was it that nasty little monkey man this time?"

Kim snorted; it was funny how her mom could tell who she'd been fighting by how badly injured she came away from it. Too bad this time she was wrong. After what had happened with Corscan, Kim almost wished she _had_ been fighting Shego or Monkey Fist; at least all _they_ wanted to do to her was kill her.

"No mom, it wasn't either of them. Just a little fight; no big." Kim answered.

"Well, ok, just so long as you aren't hurt. Although those bruises are pretty extensive Kimmie; I think you should use the liniment I made you this time." Ann replied.

"Awww mom! I hate that stuff! It smells horrible and it's all greasy and makes a total mess out of my pajamas!" Kim ranted.

"Now Kimmie, I know you're a fast healer but if you don't listen to me you're going to be stiff and sore all the way into next week, and I don't want to have to deal with how cranky you'll be if you are. Now be a good girl and use the liniment, ok?"

Kim sighed again and grumped; "Ok, fine mom, I'll use the stinky stuff, but I don't have to like it."

"We all have to do things we don't like at sometime or other Kimmie." Ann smiled and kissed Kim on the top of her head. "And it's really for your own good. Now, I want you to make sure you get enough sleep too; I want you in bed no later than one o'clock, you hear me young lady?"

Kim was distracted and irritated by the eerie and unsettling relevance the first half of her mom's statement could be related to what had happened with Corscan earlier this evening, and it took her a moment to figure out her mom was waiting for an answer.

"Ok mom, I'll be in bed by one, I promise."

"Ok Kimmie, good night. Oh, and I probably won't see you in the morning because I have an early shift in the ER, so you have a good day at school tomorrow." Ann replied with a smile.

"Ok, good night mom." Kim replied as her mom left the kitchen.

After her mom left, Kim spent the next ten minutes heating her food and trying to put all thoughts of what had happened between her and Corscan out of her head, and mostly succeeded in the latter goal. After loading her tray up with everything plus a handful of forks and spoons, Kim scooped up her backpack and hung it from her arm before taking the tray and heading up to her room.

Once Kim set the tray down on her desk she quickly shut the door and pulled her homework out of her backpack, setting it aside before digging deeper and taking her wet mission clothes out to put them in her hamper. Then she unlaced and opened up the shoes before putting them in front of it to dry out. Finally, she peeled off all her school clothes down to her underwear and socks, and slipped on some loose sweatpants and a baggy t-shirt. After all that, she had just returned to her desk and was sitting down to enjoy some food when her Kimmunicator chirped insistently from inside her backpack.

"Gahh!" Kim protested in frustration before getting up again and digging it out. Stabbing the receive button as she sat down once more, Kim said "Sitch me." tersely while reaching for a bowl of spaghetti and a fork.

"Hey KP, what's up?" Ron said as the Kimmunicator lit up with a view of him in his room, lolling on his chair with an enormous and enormously messy pile of homework on the desk in front of him.

"Oh, hey Ron." Kim said as she rested the Kimmunicator against her computer monitor so she could have both hands free to eat. Then she grabbed a roll, ripped it in half, and dug into her spaghetti with a now ravenous hunger. After wolfing down several mouthfuls Kim finally looked up at Ron while grabbing a glass of milk and taking a drink.

"Woah, KP, what happened to you?"

Swallowing, Kim grimaced and said; "Got into a fight, remember?"

"Well yeah, I know that Kim, but I mean the side of your face looks pretty bad there; must hurt like heck. Guess you were right about it being hard if she got a few good shots in on you. So, how are we going to be getting our new transport anyway? Will Wade be handling all the details or are we getting some kind of direct line to someone in the company?"

Kim grimaced again and said; "We're not getting anything Ron."

"Hunh? You mean she stiffed us? I knew something was up with her the minute Rufus freaked out on her, but this is low! We ought'a see if Wade knows a good lawyer Kim, because you can't let something like that slide; we had a verbal contract with her! Well, I mean, _you_ had a verbal contract with her, but still; she owes us! Errr, you." Ron griped enthusiastically while Rufus nodded and chattered "Un-hunh. Un-hunh." in the background.

"No Ron, she didn't stiff us." Kim said grimly while shaking her head reluctantly, and then quietly muttered; "She doesn't owe us anything."

"Wha'd'ya mean KP? If you fought her tonight then…" Ron trailed off. "No way. No way! She _won_?"

"Yeah Ron, she won."

"But… how?" Ron asked in disbelief. "You're Kim Possible! You've taken down Shego and Monkey Fist and Killigan and Drakken and… well, ok, so even _I_ could take down Drakken, but those other guys, they're hardcore."

"She was better than all of them put together Ron, so I lost, ok?" Kim said with irritation.

"But… but… you're kidding me, right Kim? She wasn't really that good, was she?"

"Yes Ron, she really was."

"Oh wow. That's… that's harsh. Wow… I can't believe you lost."

"Yes Ron, I lost, ok, can we change the subject now?" Kim growled.

"Oh, yeah, sure KP, no problem." Ron answered. "So, what're you doin' for her?"

Kim choked on her milk and coughed several times as she misheard Ron's question as "_When are you doing her?_" Finally she got control of herself and said "_What?_" sharply.

"Doing for her; weren't you supposed to do something for her if you lost? Like a favor or something? Did she tell you what it was or is she just going to hang on to it 'til she needs you for something?"

"Oh…" Kim said. "Well, don't worry about that Ron. It's not important."

"Oh come on Kim, you can't just drop a bomb like that on me and then leave me hanging like this. C'mon, tell me; what did she want you to do? Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Please?"

For a few seconds Kim actually considered telling Ron what Corscan wanted her to do, but she just couldn't. Between what it was, what she'd said, and the fact that she'd kissed her it was just too embarrassing and awk-weird. So instead she said; "Look Ron, it wasn't something I could do, ok? And I really, _really_ don't want to talk about it, so could you please just leave it alone?"

"Yeah, sure Kim, no problem." Ron said once he saw how serious Kim was about the subject. "So, you ready for that history quiz Barkin's giving us tomorrow?"

Kim sighed and replied; "I will be. Look Ron, you have _no_ idea how much I'd _love_ to spend a few hours unwinding talking about stuff with you right now, but my mom wants me in bed by one tonight, and I've still gotta eat, do all my homework, and put some liniment on, so I really don't have any time to, sorry."

"_Ewww_, the stinky stuff? You really got beat that bad Kim?" At Kim's look Ron rapidly added; "Never mind; forget I said anything. Ok, I guess I'll let you go then Kim. You get to bed early like your mom wants ok? She's one smart lady that Mrs. Dr. P.; gotta listen to her."

"Yeah Ron, she is." Kim said with a smile. "And you get to bed at a decent hour too; Barkin won't like it if you fall asleep in class tomorrow, and you're in enough trouble with him as it is, ok?"

"Ok Kim, see you at school tomorrow."

"Ok Ron, goodnight."

" 'Night."

After Ron ended the call, Kim went back to eating. Once she filled up it was almost eleven o'clock, and Kim set the rest of her food aside to snack on while she got down to doing her homework and studying for the history quiz tomorrow. By the time she finished that, she had also finished the rest of her food. Looking up at the clock, Kim saw that it was nearly quarter after twelve, and she was surprised that she was actually starting to get a little tired.

"Guess mom was right." Kim sighed.

Getting up, Kim collected her dishes, quietly took them downstairs, and set them in the sink to soak. Then she went to her bathroom and hunted down the liniment bottle where she had stuck it deep in the back of the cabinet under the sink. Before leaving, Kim looked at the tub longingly; she wanted to take a nice hot bath, but she knew that she'd fall asleep if she did—and that it was pointless anyway, since she'd have to wash again for sure after using the liniment. Sighing, Kim grabbed a towel and returned to her room instead.

Once she was in her room, Kim tossed the towel on the chair and shut her door again, but didn't bother locking it. She hadn't seen hide nor hair of the tweebs since she'd gotten home, and they usually weren't too active after eleven or so on a Monday night either, so Kim was fairly sure that there was no chance they were up late making trouble, and both her mom and dad were in bed, so there was no reason to lock the door.

After setting the liniment bottle on her desk, Kim took off all her clothes, dumped them in the hamper and then laid an older pair of pajamas out on the bed before picking up the liniment bottle again and shaking it for a ridiculously long time. Sighing again, Kim realized what she was doing and finally bit the bullet. Uncapping the bottle, Kim poured a liberal puddle of slightly thick, greenish liquid into her left hand and then set the bottle aside. With a sharp intake of breath Kim slapped the slimy mess on her upper stomach and began to rub it across and into her skin while her eyes started watering over the reek the liniment gave off.

It took Kim nearly ten minutes to cover all her injured areas in a liberal coating of the disgusting substance, and by the time she was done a pale greenish film shot through with tiny lighter flecks glistened over nearly all her body except her hands, feet, and head. Her hands were practically the color of Shego's with the accumulated buildup of greasy substance on them, and it took Kim another few minutes to scrape them clean with the towel. Then she carefully put her pajamas on, went back to her bathroom to dump the towel and put the liniment bottle back, and then thoroughly washed her hands.

Returning to her room, Kim got into bed with a groan both over the sharp stink she was now giving off and from pain. Once more her mom had been right; she was finally starting to stiffen up from her injuries. Propping herself up with a few pillows, Kim checked the volume on her alarm clock MP3 player before turning it on, setting the play timer for forty-five minutes, and making sure the alarm was set. Leaning back, Kim thought about trying to read for a while, but decided that she was too tired and distracted by her aches and the stink to bother.

As Kim lay there, she started to get pleasantly numb and warm from the liniment coating her body, and she snuggled down into her bed with a happy sigh, followed by a big yawn. Tomorrow would be a new day and she could forget all about crazy women kissing her and wanting to have sex with her.

_Oh god no._ Kim thought to herself as she realized what she had just done. And she was right, once the thought slipped out it was like a cork popping off a champagne bottle; all the thoughts and images of what had happened with Corscan earlier tonight came frothing up and overflowing into her mind.

Yet again Kim started hopelessly trying to figure out ways she could have dealt with Corscan's fighting style while at the same time random thoughts about the other things Corscan had said and done wandered through her head. Fortunately for Kim, she really was exhausted from her injuries and exertion earlier in the night, so it was only about a half-hour until she drifted off into a deep sleep, despite her endless circling thoughts.

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**All right, listen up people!** This ends the 9-chapter preview here at FFN. Since the next chapter contains three or four ToS violating paragraphs, and since putting some chapters up only on AFFN and others here would be too complicated to follow—and because I'm too lazy to keep track of which ones do and do not violate FFN's ToS—all further chapters of Revelations of Destiny will be posted to AFFN.

This does not come without its share of problems, because unless I'm missing something, AFFN has no Story Alert System, and, you have to leave a public Email addy displayed in the Review if you want a response to it, as I'm not going to clutter up my story with Review Replies.

There is a workaround for both those things however: my Story Thread on the KP Slash Haven Forum. You can subscribe to threads for Email alerts when posts are made to them, and I'll be posing links to new chapters there as they come out. As well, I can post answers to review questions that lack Email addies there.

Both direct links to the AFFN version of RoD and my Story Thread on the KP Slash Haven Forum are in my profile, and I hope you'll all continue on with the ride over there.

On a personal note, it annoys me to no end you can't put up NC-17 stuff here anymore. I'm going to miss my hits-by-chapter displays and other neat little stats breakdowns here at FFN. Sigh…

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**If this story is on your alert list**: from this point on, I will be deleting and resubmitting this final chapter every time I put a new chapter up on AFFN, thus triggering another alert from the FFN system, and thus allowing everyone to continue receiving alerts for this story, even though it isn't continuing on this site anymore. Don't bother clicking on the link in the E-mails, because from now on this chapter is done being edited.


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